US FDA approves cell meat again, how long will it take for the market to explode

GOOD Meat, a subsidiary of Eat Just and a cell meat start-up company, announced that its cell culture chicken has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which is only 4 months away from the first approval of cell meat in the United States. Previously, the chicken product produced by UPSIDE Foods was the first cell-cultured meat approved by the US FDA.

This is not just a simple regulatory approval, but represents the transformation, upgrading and change of the American food system.

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  FDA approves cell-cultured meat again,

Which signals are released?

This time, GOOD Meat's cell-cultured chicken has been approved by the US FDA, which will be a key step for GOOD Meat products to be introduced into American restaurants and retail stores. Currently, GOOD Meat is working with chef and humanitarian José Andrés, who operates more than 30 restaurants across the United States, and plans to provide Good Meat chicken to consumers. Once approved by the US Department of Agriculture, its products can be introduced to the national market.

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What signals are released this time?

In the past six months, the FDA has successively given the green light to the cell culture chicken of Upside Foods and Good Meat, which indicates that in the next one or two years, the cell meat industry in the United States will be in the start-up stage of development, and it is expected that more companies and capital will pay attention to this market. At the same time, it also shows that the United States will make efforts in the emerging alternative protein market to occupy the entire market share.

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In addition to regulatory promotion, the United States also supports alternative proteins and cell meat in terms of capital and policies.

In September 2022, the U.S. government promised to double its support for the field of alternative proteins, and the "Bioeconomy" plan clearly announced that it would increase financial support for cellular agriculture. Additionally, the U.S. Department of Agriculture awarded Tufts University a $10 million grant in 2021 to create the U.S. Institute for Cellular Agriculture.

This FDA decision is groundbreaking

Mirte Gosker, managing director of the Good Food Institute Asia-Pacific region, said that the US FDA's decision is of historic significance to both sides of the Pacific Ocean, which opens the door for more regulatory and scientific cooperation between the two innovative markets, which will help meet global demands. The growing demand for safe, sustainable protein is truly fueling the growth of the global cell-based meat industry.

Robert Rankin, executive director of the American Meat, Poultry and Seafood Innovation Association (AMPS), also said that the FDA's approval is another important milestone and verification point for the cell culture/cultured meat, poultry and seafood industry. AMPS Innovation members will continue to work with government agencies to create a safe and robust transparent pathway to market for cell culture/cultured meat.

The United States adopts a dual regulatory policy

Currently, the regulation of cell cultured meat in the U.S. market is a “dual” approach, and products must be marketed under the regulatory frameworks of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Specifically, the FDA is responsible for supervising the early stages of cell meat production (such as cell collection, cell banking, cell division and differentiation, etc.), and the USDA is responsible for supervising the middle and late stages of cell meat production (production facilities, cell meat product label approval, etc.).

It can be seen that FDA's safety approval is the most basic and important threshold for cell cultured meat to enter the commercial market.

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  Why Good Meat?

According to data from the Good Food Institute, there are currently more than 100 start-ups engaged in cell culture meat in the world, mainly concentrated in the United States, Israel, Europe and other markets. Mainstream participating companies include UPSIDE Foods, Mosa Meat, Believer Meats and GOOD Meat.

GOOD Meat is the second cell-cultured meat producer to be approved by the US FDA. This approval is based on years of efforts in product development, safety assessment and global regulatory declaration.

1. In terms of regulations, take the lead in entering the Singapore market

The approval of GOOD Meat cell culture meat in Singapore opens the door to the regulatory market in other parts of the world.

The cell-cultured chicken produced by GOOD Meat has obtained a number of regulatory approvals in Singapore in 2020, 2021 and 2023. It is also a cell meat producer currently capable of direct sales to consumers. The specific approval details are as follows:

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In 2020, GOOD Meat passed the safety requirements of the Singapore Food Authority (SFA) "Novel Food";

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In 2021, GOOD Meat will be licensed by the Singapore regulatory authority to sell new cell-cultured chicken products, and plans to debut the new product "cell-cultured chicken breast" at the JW Marriott Hotel in South Beach, Singapore;

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In 2023, Singapore approved GOOD Meat to use serum-free cell growth medium in cell culture meat products, which will make cell meat production more scalable, efficient and sustainable while reducing costs.

At present, Singapore is the first country in the world to approve the sale of cell-cultured meat products. The green light of Singapore’s regulations will undoubtedly inject new vitality into the development of the cell-cultured meat industry, and also provide a basis for the approval of GOOD Meat in the US market.

2. Safety review, antibiotic-free process

It is reported that GOOD Meat's development, manufacturing and regulatory team submitted a large amount of document information to the US FDA, detailing the safety and production process of its cell cultured chicken, including the characteristics, purity and stability of chicken cells, and stated that the process is at any stage. Neither required antibiotics, and the information was primarily used for an in-depth safety review of the medium in which their non-GM cells were grown.

In addition, GOOD Meat also submitted relevant safety and quality verification information. The cell chicken produced by it meets poultry microbiological and purity standards, and the microbiological level is significantly lower than that of traditional chicken. The test analysis also showed that the cell cultured chicken produced by GOOD Meat has high protein content, balanced amino acid content, and is a rich source of minerals.

3. High maturity of product commercialization

Since its launch, Good Meat's cell-cultured chicken has appeared on menus in various parts of Singapore, including fine dining restaurants, hawker stalls, Food panda delivery platform and Huber's Butchery, one of Singapore's leading premium meat producers and suppliers one. The types of products are also very diverse, ranging from crispy strips, curry to skewers, salads, and burgers, and are generally well received by consumers.

According to a consumer survey conducted by Global Management Consulting on behalf of GOOD Meat, 70% of Singaporeans who have tried GOOD Meat's cell-cultured chicken said it tasted as good or better than conventional chicken. Additionally, about 90 percent of restaurant operators said they would be willing to sell cell-based meat, and a majority said they could envision cell-based meat replacing some conventional meat on their menus within a decade.

In addition to the United States and Singapore, the domestic cell meat market is also continuing to make efforts. From a general background, the "14th Five-Year National Agricultural and Rural Science and Technology Development Plan" mentioned cell culture meat and other artificially synthesized proteins. The pressure of aquaculture on environmental resources" is key to the objective. From the perspective of enterprises, many domestic start-ups are making efforts in the cell meat market and obtaining corresponding financing.

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  New "dynamics" of the domestic cell meat market

At present, the main players in the domestic cell meat market are Zhouzi Future, CellX, Meet Weilai, Jimoi Biotech, Chaoji Liangshi, etc. The latter two companies will usher in rapid development in 2023, of which Jimoi Biology has won the 2000 Angel round financing of 10,000 yuan and the successful research of cell meat on plant scaffolds. Chaoji Liangshi cultivated yellow feather chicken steak in only 11 days.

Extreme Moose Bio: Research and Development of Animal Cell Cultured Meat

Recently, Jimo Biology has successfully developed animal cell cultured meat products without plant scaffolds. The cells of this product are taken from Hangzhou Fuyang roosters. The flavor is slightly different from traditional chicken, which is a relatively successful attempt.

Cao Zhehou, CEO of Jimo Biology, said that the two most important difficulties for cell meat at this stage are cost and taste. In terms of cost control, Jimo has reduced the cost of the culture medium to the range of 100 yuan, which is only 3% of the market price of the culture medium. This time, the successful development of cell meat has proved the feasibility of pure animal cell products without plant scaffolds.

Super technology and good food: 11-day cultured cell culture yellow feather chicken steak

Zheng Yong, the founder of Chaoji Liangshi Biotechnology Co., Ltd. (referred to as "Superji Liangshi"), said that the company has developed cell cultured yellow feather chicken steak, which only takes 11 days to cultivate and has a naturally formed appearance and texture. Other aspects also exceeded expectations.

In terms of cell meat production, Chaoji Liangshi has developed a variety of super helper cell systems that can secrete growth factors. It is reported that the system has three advantages: one is to reduce the addition of growth factors in the muscle culture medium, the other is to improve the cell growth efficiency in the low-serum culture system, and the third is to lower the cost. In addition, Chaoji Liangshi also pays attention to the development of the diversity of biological scaffolds, which are the key core for building cells into shaped meat.

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  From concept to implementation,

How long will it take for the cell meat market to explode?

According to consulting firm McKinsey, the global cell-cultured meat market is expected to reach $25 billion by 2030, a fraction of the $1.4 trillion meat market, but food companies see it as a fast-growing alternative meat category. key players. Although the market track is optimistic by the market, there is still a long way to go for industrialization development. Commercial feasibility, moderate market penetration, and consumer awareness are all business priorities in the next 5 to 10 years.

First, the approval of regulatory authorities is the first obstacle to the development of the cell meat market. At present, only Singapore and the United States have officially approved the sale of cell culture meat in the global market. Israel and Japan are showing interest in the cell meat market. There will be new breakthroughs in regulations and supervision in the coming year.

Second, the stability of the supply chain. The main hurdle facing cell meat companies is the development of nascent supply chains to supply the nutrient mix needed for cells, as well as the large bioreactors required to produce large quantities of cultured meat. If there are problems in the supply chain of cell meat, it will be difficult to compete with traditional meat in terms of price in the future.

Third, high cost. The production cost of cell meat is still higher than that of traditional animal protein. According to McKinsey data analysis, about 75% of the cost can be eliminated by expanding the scale and first-class manufacturing process, and about 25% of the additional cost can be eliminated by fine-tuning R&D, thereby reducing the total cost by 99.5%, from thousands of dollars per pound to Less than $5.

Cellular meat is gaining traction as a protein source that can meet consumer demand while reducing the impact on the planet. The potential is real, and it's getting market and government attention. Further investment, process innovation and supply chain stabilization will be required to transform this concept from small batches to what is on millions of people's dinner plates.