News

Cell-cultured meat developer predicts product on market within three years

A developer of cell-cultured meat says they plan to have product ready for market within three years.

San Francisco-based New Age Meats is already producing pork sausage in a lab and plans to develop a whole line of cell-cultured meat products.

Company co-founder Brian Spears believes there is a growing segment of consumers who will welcome an alternative to what he calls “mass, industrial animal agriculture”.

“There are issues around the environment, around the human health aspect, and around the animal welfare aspect,” Spears says, “and there are a lot of consumers who are really interested in this type of technology because it really addresses, head-on, some of these issues.”

On the issue of labeling, Spears says he wants their product to be differentiated from traditional meat.

“I would love to have a designation that this is a product of cell culture. We want consumers to be able to choose. We’re not going to foist this on anybody. We don’t want people to be tricked.”

Spears says the growth of cell-cultured meat will depend on the price.

“We know what the market cost is of meat,” he says. “If we don’t actually meet that, or aren’t around that, then we’re not going to succeed.”

We spoke with Spears at the BIO World Congress in Des Moines.