Cultivated Meat in 4 Days, Precision Fermentation ‘Competitors’ Team Up, and Bee-Free Honey
Cultivated Meat in 4 Days, Precision Fermentation ‘Competitors’ Team Up, and Bee-Free Honey
Also: My Q&A with Synonym's co-founder, Joshua Lachter
Hi, thanks for being here!
Here’s my favourite quote that I came across this week:
“Amidst increasing consumer demand, we confront a dwindling livestock population, rising feed costs, aging demographic of ranchers, labor shortages, market volatility, supply chain shocks, and numerous environmental pressures. Diversifying animal protein and fat production is crucial for sustaining food security.”
Didier Toubia, Co-Founder Aleph Farms
Alright, let’s dig into the latest developments in biotech-enabled food innovation! 🍽
BIO TALKS
🛠 My Q&A with Synonym's co-founder, Joshua Lachter: Financing and developing infrastructure for the bioeconomy
How Synonym empowers companies to bring next-generation bioproducts to market
Synonym, based in New York, specializes in designing, developing, financing, and managing biomanufacturing facilities to advance the global bioeconomy.
They enable companies to bring next-generation bioproducts to market by providing a roadmap towards commercialization and profitability. This includes conducting techno-economic analyses, conceptual engineering design studies, and lifecycle assessments to help companies understand their cost of goods sold, CAPEX requirements, carbon intensity, and other key factors.
For companies ready to produce at various scales, Synonym assists in finding contract manufacturing organizations that fit their business and technical requirements.
For those further along in their commercialization journey, Synonym builds turnkey infrastructure to produce at scale, including detailed facility designs, off-balance sheet financing, site selection, construction oversight, and facility operation.
Synonym's mission
Joshua explained that the company was founded in 2022 to address the urgent need for a shift from petroleum-dependent processes to biomanufacturing in light of the climate crisis. Synonym aims to make biomanufacturing more affordable and accessible, thus enabling widespread adoption and scaling.
Financing is a bigger hurdle than technology
Joshua identified financing as a major challenge in scaling biomanufacturing infrastructure for the food industry. Synonym addresses this by separating the means of production from synbio developers, standardising fermentation facilities, and guiding companies in bringing bioproducts to market.
What makes the economics of food biomanufacturing different from pharma?
Pharma has high-margin, low-volume products with low cost sensitivity, while food involves low-margin, high-volume commodities that are sensitive to costs. Only very few CMOs serve the food biomanufacturing market because the unit economics are unprofitable. This lack of infrastructure makes it tough for food tech companies to produce at commercial scale.
Funding sources for building infrastructure
To reach the industry's full potential, biomanufacturing capacity must increase 20x globally by 2040. This will require a lot of funding. The funding for biomanufacturing infrastructure will evolve, starting with government-backed grants and moving towards institutional private investors and banks.
If you need a TEA, FEL-1, CMO, or dedicated facility, reach out at contact@synonym.bio and they’ll be in touch!
BIO BUZZ
🇳🇱 Meatable cuts cultivated meat production time to just 4 days, making it the fastest in the sector
By cutting the production timeline and using fewer bioreactors, Meatable addresses the major industry challenges of scalability and high costs. This positions the Dutch cultivated meat leader for large-scale production and commercialization.
The breakthrough allows Meatable to produce cultivated pork 60x faster than traditional pork production and much quicker than other cultivated meat companies.
With its production milestone, Meatable is advancing towards its cultivated pork sausages’ market launch in Singapore mid this year. The company is optimistic that it will ”reach price parity with traditional farmed meat in the next few years.”
Source: Green Queen
🧀 Formo and Those Vegan Cowboys partner to introduce precision-fermented cheese to the EU market
The partnership involves combining R&D efforts in strain engineering, bioprocessing, and large-scale production to achieve price parity with conventional dairy casein.
With a combined team of 60+ scientists, their ultimate aim is to expedite EU regulatory approval and bring precision-fermented cheese to EU supermarkets. Price parity with traditional casein is expected within 3 years and will undercut its prices within a decade.
While the two startups collaborate on R&D, they will continue their food science, product development, and commercialization efforts independently.
Source: Green Queen
🍯 MeliBio partnered with Pow.Bio to scale up the production of its bee-free honey using precision fermentation
Pow.Bio's expertise in AI-driven continuous fermentation processes will support MeliBio in optimising its precision fermentation for bee-free honey production.
MeliBio has successfully produced a proof-of-concept for its fermentation-derived protein targets, demonstrating the commercial viability of its bee proteins and enzymes.
The Californian startup is also pursuing regulatory filings with the FDA to bring its precision fermentation product to market.
Source: Green Queen
🍼 Triplebar Bio teamed up with FrieslandCampina Ingredients to cost-effectively scale up precision-fermented lactoferrin
Lactoferrin is an iron-binding anti-microbial protein found in mammalian milk. It supports immunity, iron regulation, digestive health, endurance, and muscle strength.
Triplebar optimises microbes for efficient lactoferrin production using a 'hyper-throughput' screening platform and genetic engineering. FrieslandCampina Ingredients, a subsidiary of Dutch dairy giant FrieslandCampina, is a key player in the lactoferrin market.
With bovine lactoferrin's high market value ($700-2,000/kg) and limited supply, precision-fermented lactoferrin presents an economically attractive opportunity.
Source: AgFunder
🛠 GEA introduced a perfusion platform to improve productivity and cost efficiency in cell cultivation and precision fermentation
The technology is expected to make alt proteins more cost-competitive by significantly lowering production costs. Other potential benefits include higher productivity, cell density, and ensuring reproducible product quality.
The single-use separator is important in the pharmaceutical industry and allows food tech startups to validate product ideas without complex cleaning and sterilisation.
GEA estimates that the perfusion technology could reduce bioreactor size, media, and space requirements by 10%. This would help lower the production costs of food biomanufacturing.
Source: vegconomist
⚡️ More buzzes
🐱 Meatly expects regulatory approval within three months to sell its cultivated cat food in the UK, aiming to be the first in the market. The startup plans to launch tinned chicken for cats this year. Meatly completed its first production run, combining cultivated chicken with pulses and vegetables from vegan dog food company OMNI. (Green Queen)
🍬 Oobli has received a ‘no further questions’ letter from the FDA for its precision-fermented Oubli Sweet Protein. The Californian startup's Sweet Protein (scientifically called brazzein) can replace >70% of sugar in various products. 1g of brazzein = 2,000g of sugar. (Green Queen)
🇸🇪 Melt&Marble has scaled up its production of precision-fermented fat, aiming for a 2025 US launch. The Swedish startup moved into a new headquarters with advanced molecular bio and microbio labs, pilot-scale bioreactors, and a test kitchen for its fat's food applications. (Green Queen)
MACRO STUFF
🤷🏾♂️ Experts criticise the FAO's roadmap for dismissing alt proteins and neglecting the impact of meat and dairy consumption
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) presented a roadmap at COP28 that outlines 120 actions to meet 20 key targets for reducing emissions from the food system.
The roadmap didn't target reducing meat and dairy, responsible for 11-19.6% of emissions, with meat accounting for 60% within the food system. Instead, the roadmap promoted a 75% increase in aquaculture and suggested increasing meat production in lower-income countries.
Concerns are raised about the FAO's failure to fully embrace the One Health approach and the potential health risks associated with intensifying animal agriculture, such as anti-microbial resistance and zoonotic disease.
Source: Green Queen
🇬🇧 UK Food Standards Agency to reform regulations for products like precision fermentation-derived ingredients and cultivated meat
A new public register for 'regulated products' will be introduced. This will eliminate the need for a Statutory Instrument, potentially reducing the approval period by up to 6 months.
The reformed regulations will also remove the requirement for products to be reauthorised after several years. This will free up capacity for dealing with new product authorisation procedures.
The FSA’s current regulatory framework is based on the EU’s model. However, the agency has highlighted that parts of this system are resource-intensive and that reforms are needed to improve efficiency and develop a high-quality service that can keep up with industry innovation.
Source: Food Bev
🇩🇪🇦🇹 More than 60% of Germans and Austrians support consumer choice for cultivated meat
Surveys commissioned by the Good Food Institute Europe and conducted by YouGov show 65% of Germans and 63% of Austrians support the sale of cultivated meat once it's deemed safe and nutritious by regulators.
66% of Germans and Austrians approve of the domestic production of cultivated meat to benefit their countries' economies, with broad support spanning all political affiliations in both nations.
The survey, which polled 2,105 people in Germany and 1,026 in Austria, showed that over half the population in both countries is aware of cultivated meat. And 47% of Germans and 42% of Austrians are willing to try it.
Source: Cell Base
ENTER THE FOODTECH WORLD CUP
Game ON! Applications are now open for the FoodTech World Cup 🏆
Calling early-stage startups working on: Food Circularity, AI and Digital Tools, Sustainable Proteins, Personalised Nutrition, Food Safety and Traceability, Innovative Food Product Concepts, and Novel Ingredients and Technologies
Join this global pitch competition hosted by Givaudan and FoodHack to spotlight impactful startups.
BIO BUCKS
🇦🇺 Cauldron raised AUD 9.5M in Series A funding to scale up precision fermentation manufacturing platform
The funding will allow the Australian startup to finalise arrangements with partners and plans for a 500,000 L facility. Over the long term, it aims to build a network of "smaller, smarter" precision fermentation facilities operating as a CDMO.
Cauldron's technology has shown a 30-50% cost reduction compared to traditional batch fermentation at a 25,000 L capacity. Using a continuous (rather than a batch) fermentation process, Cauldron keeps microbes in a productive state for extended periods.
It has successfully run over 8 months of operation without contamination or genetic drift (two key challenges in running long-term fermentation) in a 10,000 L system. This approach reduces both variable and fixed costs and improves output relative to CAPEX.
Source: AgFunder
🇳🇿 ANDFOODS raised $2.7M in seed funding to advance its fermentation-enabled legume-based dairy alternatives
The New Zealand startup develops plant-based creams and milk powders. It uses a fermentation process that removes off-note flavours while maintaining nutritional and functional qualities.
The creams have “eclipsed all other plant-based creams” in testing. It demonstrated an overrun comparable to UHT dairy creams in commercial kitchens and food manufacturers. The products are also allergen-free.
The funding will support commercialization and R&D acceleration. ANDFOODS has begun product development with some of the world's largest food companies, despite being launched less than a year ago.
Source: vegconomist
🇪🇸 Poseidona secured €1.1M in pre-seed funding to advance the development of sustainable algal protein ingredients
The Spanish food tech startup uses algal sidestreams and invasive seaweeds to produce cost-effective proteins
It’s said to be lower in terms of water use, land use, and carbon emissions than animal-based or conventional plant-based proteins.
The funding will expedite Poseidona's R&D, aiming to bring its protein ingredients to market.
Source: vegconomist
SOCIAL FEAST
🤩 New cultivated meat startups have a huge advantage over those that began 5 years ago
The industry's infrastructure has evolved, allowing startups to access or license the necessary components to start producing prototypes from day one, rather than building everything from scratch.
The value for modern cultivated meat companies lies in how they assemble the different building blocks of production (cell lines, media, bioprocesses, etc.) rather than in creating each component in-house.
The support ecosystem for cultivated meat and biomanufactured products has expanded significantly in the last 5 years. This growing network of B2B companies provides a strong foundation for the growth and innovation of the cultivated meat industry.
Source: James Ryall
😐 We cannot let the future of food become a political instrument
Food security is linked to national security and social stability. The challenges of food security cannot be fully addressed by conventional livestock agriculture alone, given factors like a dwindling livestock population, rising feed costs, and environmental pressures.
Countries and states that aim to maintain their positions as global leaders in food production should invest in the future of food as a complement to conventional practices. Banning cultivated meat may lead to a redirection of resources to other regions, resulting in a loss of global leadership.
Consumers should have the freedom to make informed choices about their food, and limiting this freedom contradicts the principles of a free democratic society. The focus should be on clear nomenclature rather than bans.
Source: Didier Toubia
🤔 Why is food so hard to change?
Food is deeply intertwined with culture, traditions, social connections, and personal identity, making it challenging to change eating habits.
Resistance to changing food habits stems from the fear of changing one's identity and the cultural significance of food. However, there is a clear need for change in eating habits due to environmental, health, and ethical concerns.
The challenge lies in finding a balance between preserving cultural heritage and embracing new, more sustainable, and ethical food practices.
Source: Irina Gerry
That’s a wrap. Thank you for taking the time to read this issue!
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