Agronomics Limited has announced that its portfolio company, Meatly, has achieved a significant milestone in the development of a protein-free culture medium for cultivated meat production. This breakthrough is a crucial step in reducing the costs of producing cultivated meat, addressing a major hurdle in the industry's path to achieving price parity with conventional meat products. Meatly's protein-free culture medium, costing only one pound per litre, is a game-changer in the industry, as it eliminates the need for expensive proteins and components, making industrial production economically viable.
Meatly's Co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer, Helder Cruz, emphasized the significance of this achievement, stating that it represents a critical milestone for the company and the wider cultivated meat industry. The reduction in production costs is expected to make their products more accessible to pet owners at an affordable price and on a commercial scale. Jim Mellon, Founder of Agronomics, lauded Meatly's accomplishment, highlighting the company's role as a technological leader and its substantial cost reduction in cultivated meat production.
Looking ahead, Meatly is preparing for the release of its cultivated pet food product in the UK, with support from investors such as Pets at Home and Agronomics. The company's successful trajectory, achieved on a budget of £3.6 million over approximately 18 months, serves as a positive indication for the industry's commercialization efforts and the potential ethical and environmental benefits of cultivated meat.
Meatly, previously known as Good Dog Food, was founded in 2022 and is focused on producing ethical and sustainable cultivated meat products for the pet food market. Agronomics, as a leading listed alternative proteins company, has established a portfolio of over 20 companies in the cellular agriculture sector, aiming to secure minority stakes in companies with defensible intellectual property that offer new ways of producing food and materials historically derived from animals.
The company's portfolio includes technologies that drive disruption in agriculture, offering solutions to improve sustainability, address human health, animal welfare, and environmental damage. This disruption is fundamental to feeding the world's expanding population and decoupling supply chains from the environment and animals. Meatly's achievement marks a significant advancement in the cultivated meat industry, with the potential to pave the way for widespread adoption of cultivated products.
For further information, please refer to the company's official website.