For years, meat has been the main source of protein globally. However, the health, environmental and animal welfare concerns of traditional meat production have driven the search for alternatives. Cultivated meat products represent an incredible opportunity to provide an alternative (and complementary) method to traditional farming methods to keep up with the growing demand of the global population. It is the alternative that would meet customer's expectations the most accurately. It frees up land and requires less water than livestock farming. Cultivated meat could address the protein shortage for a global population projected to reach 9.5bn by 2050\. However, the cultivated meat industry is still in its infancy and although processes have been tested and validated, scaling the technology at low-cost remains an immense challenge. This consortium brings together innovative tissue engineering and bioreactor specialist, Cellular Agriculture (CellAg), and Campden BRI (CBRI), the UK's largest independent food and drinks R&D organisation. This project intends to optimise, test and validate the scalability of hollow-fibre bioreactors (HFB) to produce cultivated meat products. HFB has significant advantages compared to current state-of-the-art bioreactors (e.g.stirred-tank/fixed-bed) with increased cell density, compact design, cost-efficiency and lower emissions which would unlock the commercial viability of cultivated meat production. Building on proof-of-concept work led by CellAg, the consortium will develop an HFB system prototype demonstrator that will be optimised at CBRI's facilities. CBRI will then collaborate with CellAg to test production samples and develop food quality, safety, regulatory, economic and sustainability assessments. This project will enable CellAg to further develop and test the HFB to rapidly commercialise their technology post-project to food manufacturers and cultivated meat companies. This project will put CBRI at the forefront of innovative food research by developing a cutting-edge cultivated meat production system. The knowledge acquired during the project will also be productised by CBRI in the form of e-learning courses and supporting services.

Seventy years ago, Churchill famously said: 'We shall escape the absurdity of growing a whole chicken in order to eat the breast or wing, by growing these parts separately under a suitable medium.' Cultured meat is a healthier (less antibiotics), more ethical (better animal welfare), more efficient (better use of land) and sustainable way to produce meat and meet the protein demand of a growing population. The market for cultured meat is estimated to reach £30B in 2030 (McKinsey). To scale the production process there is a need for enabling technologies, like edible microcarriers that allow anchorage, proliferation and differentiation of stem cells, and then harvesting of the final product. Naturbeads cellulose beads production process (currently scaling from pilot to demo plant) allows customizing the properties of the cellulose beads to promote cells attachment, growth, and differentiation. We have already developed a prototype that shows performance in cell culture plates (2D) superior to commercially available scaffolding that are currently only used in R&D due to their prohibitive costs. With this project we aim to move from proof of concept to a commercial prototype that we can sell by the end of the project for industrial R&D to lock in customers for scaled up production. Naturbeads will work together with Cellular Agriculture to test the performance of the cellulose microcarriers in bioreactors (3D) to optimize the parameters for cell proliferation, differentiation in stirred tanks, and cell detachment. Naturbeads carriers are made of cellulose a natural, edible, and biocompatible biopolymer, that can be sourced sustainably from forestry groups part of PEFC (Programme for the endorsement of Forest Certification). It is also inexpensive, offering a low-cost scaffolding structure with the potential to lower production costs of culture meat, allowing it to reach price parity with conventional meat within the next five years.

Cellular Agriculture Ltd seeks to be the science-led global leader in cultured meat production. Following the hugely succesful Clean and Cool Mission we aim to capitalise on the momentum created by engaging with potential partners and funders. This project seeks to deliver both on technical development of a cultured meat concept-product, the wider development of the business model, and to seek potential rainbow funders that will allow the business to captialise on all market opportunites.