Mission Barns, a startup growing animal fat in proprietary bioreactors it claims can dramatically improve the efficiency of the production process, has secured an FDA ‘no questions’ letter regarding the safety of its cultivated pork fat.
“This is the first approval in the cultivated meat space in a while,” said founder Eitan Fischer, who acknowledged that funding to the nascent industry has fallen off a cliff in the past couple of years, with many startups struggling to stay afloat.
“Our hope is that it generates new momentum, not just for us, but for the entire industry.”
The fat will debut in meatballs and bacon at San Francisco-based restaurant group Fiorella and Sprouts Farmers Market stores in the coming months, said Mission Barns, which is in the “final stages” of securing approval from the USDA (via a grant of inspection for the pilot plant and an approved label), which will also be required for a US launch.
The products will combine plant-based proteins and small amounts of cultivated pork fat, said the firm, which is the first company in the world to receive regulatory clearance for cell-cultivated pork fat, and the third to secure US regulatory approval to sell cultivated animal cells (after UPSIDE Foods and GOOD Meat) for human consumption.
In a letter to the company, available here, the FDA said it had no further questions regarding Mission Barns’ conclusion that products made with its fat “are as safe as comparable foods.”
“From the ability to source some of my favorite local ingredients to the prices on our menus, the vulnerability of our global food supply chain impacts every aspect of my business. I’ve been keeping tabs on the cultivated meat industry as a potential solution, and after meeting with Mission Barns and tasting its products, I wanted to make sure we created a partnership for this historic moment.” Brandon Gillis, co-founder, Fiorella
Brandon Gillis, cofounder, Fiorella. Image credit: Mission Barns
An untapped market?
But is there a market for cultivated animal fat? And will alt meat brands want to compromise their “plant-based” credentials by including animal fat (albeit produced in a bioreactor instead of an animal) in their products, even if it does significantly improve the sensory experience?
While some will not, many companies Mission Barns is talking to believe there is potential to create a new generation of products for consumers that are dissatisfied with current plant-based offerings and are not prepared to compromise on taste, Fischer told us.
“We have the sustainability benefits, the [lower] water and land use, the lack of antibiotic use, and the deliciousness people expect from bacon or meatballs. We think there’s a very large untapped market here.”
For most consumers that are not vegan or vegetarian, what matters is that food tastes delicious, and is ideally good for them, sustainable and humane, he said. And notably, very small amounts of animal fat—which is easier and quicker to grow than muscle—can make a significant difference to the eating experience of meat alternatives, he claimed.
“Fat grows a lot faster, can be grown with cheaper inputs, and even a small amount can make a very big difference in the sensory profile of the product.
“We have large meat companies that are partners. We also have leading plant-based brands, both in the US and internationally, including in Asia, with whom we’ve been working on co-developing and soon, hopefully launching our products now, on the heel of approval.”
The business model
The plan is to use the small-scale launch to demonstrate to potential b2b partners that there’s consumer interest, he said.
“The goal is to scale up our own production, but even more so, to have our partners scale up in parallel. We would like to build a large-scale facility. But in the meantime, at the intermediate scale, there are partners with whom we can work to take our bioreactor technology, partner with them, set that up in a partner facility, and run in a way that requires a lot lower capex investment.
“This will allow us to scale much faster without needing to deploy as many tens of millions of dollars in upfront capex.”
Funding
Founded in 2018, Mission Barns has raised over $60 million and is now kicking off a new round of funding, said Fischer.
“We have continued to bring in additional funding from current and new investors. Our goal is really to demonstrate that cultivated meat is here to stay.”
While funding for many agrifoodtech segments has fallen sharply since early 2022 as generalists have fled the sector, private capital going into cultivated meat has almost dried up. AgFunder data shows that funding peaked at $989 million in 2021, dipped to $807 million in 2022 and then fell precipitously to $177 million in 2023. In 2024, there were just two notable rounds: Mosa Meat’s $43 million raise in April and Ever After Foods’ $10 million raise in June.
Against this backdrop, firms have been slashing headcount, consolidating, and calling it quits (click here and here). Others have become embroiled in battles with co-manufacturers over allegedly unpaid bills.
Scientific memo
In the US, cultivated meat and poultry is regulated by the FDA and USDA under a joint regulatory framework wherein FDA oversees cell collection, cell banks, and cell growth and differentiation, while USDA oversees the production and labeling of food products from the harvested cells.
According to a scientific memo published by the FDA this morning, Mission Barns’ “harvested material, following washing… is similar in fatty acid content to conventional pork fat products.” No trans fats were detected in the harvested cell material, according to Mission Barns.
Mission Barns passages cells isolated from subcutaneous belly fat biopsied from a domestic Yorkshire pig to “select for, or induce, individual cells that have desired characteristics, including the ability to grow in a serum-free medium, the ability to exhibit a stable phenotype with repeated, linear growth (cell immortalization), the ability to acquire characteristics of fat cells (adipocytes), and the ability to grow on solid substrates (adherent culture).”
Further reading:
Mission Barns unveils ‘novel, scalable, adherent’ bioreactor for cultivated meat, fat
ProFuse Technology expands focus from cultivated meat to drug discovery amid GLP-1 drug boom
Cultivated Meat at a crossroads: Highlights from the Tufts cell ag innovation day
SuperMeat offers ‘glimpse into a future where cultivated meat can be produced at scale’ for $11.79/lb
??Cultivated meat: ‘There’s a valley of death we’re not going to cross without a massive infusion of public investment’
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