Czech startup, Mewery, has introduced the first-ever burger with cell-cultivated pork – and plans to enter the U.S. market. Uniquely, Mewery’s product combines porcine cells with microalgae cells.
“Our burger tastes delicious, and easily surpasses the taste of traditional plant-based burgers,” said Roman Lauš, Founder.
The burger prototype was introduced during the Rock for People festival, a huge Czech cultural event with 40,000 people attending. Even though a public tasting is not possible in the EU yet, around 90% of the event’s attendees stated they would be interested in tasting the burger right on the spot.
So far, there are only two countries in the world where cell-cultivated meat is approved for sale. The first was Singapore in Asia, followed by the USA. However, U.S. companies Upside Foods and Good Meat are focusing on chicken production. Mewery, therefore, plans to enter the American market with its novel fortified pork products within the next two years.
"We have managed to get the price of the culture medium down to a few dollars per liter, which allows us to gradually increase the testing of our co-culture in larger volumes and to expand our parallel sensory laboratory for the final texture and taste of our products," Lauš said.
Mewery’s goal is to produce cultivated pork meat without killing a single animal. In practical terms, it means the replacement of FBS (fetal bovine serum), a component of animal origin commonly used in laboratories. This was the main reason for the startup to develop its own cultivation medium based on microalgae. The medium is used for the co-cultivation of the porcine cell line, derived from the umbilical cord, with microalgae. It is this co-cultivation with microalgae that adds previously impossible nutritional value to the final meat.
In a historic development for the American food industry, a group of diners in Washington, D.C., partook in a meal featuring cultivated chicken from GOOD Meat, marking the company’s inaugural sale in the United States after its approval by the USDA. The event took place at China Chilcano, a restaurant by celebrated chef José Andrés.
The cultured chicken dish was served only two weeks after GOOD Meat, a food technology company Eat, Inc. subsidiary, received complete U.S. regulatory approval. Starting later this summer, China Chilcano will offer the dish in limited quantities as part of its weekly menu, exclusively for reservations.
Josh Tetrick, co-founder and CEO of GOOD Meat and Eat Just, expressed his pride in launching the cultured chicken product. GOOD Meat has already been making waves internationally, winning regulatory approvals for its chicken in Singapore in 2020 and 2021.
EDITOR’S TAKE:
First it was plant-based burgers and now pork and chicken from a petri dish lab concoction made from umbilical cords and algae. I get it in the sense that humans want to experiment with different approaches to food, especially with an expanding world population. That said, it has been almost impossible to improve on the pork, beef and chicken being produced by America’s farmers and ranchers. In our opinion, any improvements will be derived from improved genetics, better animal diets and increased transparency through increased tracking and tracing from origin to table. Let’s face it, our farmers and ranchers work hard to bring us the best possible products at affordable prices. We need to stand behind our loyal, hard-working farmers who ultimately purchase those new and used trucks that you advertise on AgTruckTrader.com!
