Cultivated meat, also known by its less-tantalising name of lab-grown meat, may not be approved for human consumption in the UK yet, but a recent regulatory approval could soon see it coming to a pet bowl near you.
Start-up Meatly, a portfolio company of London-listed Agronomics Ltd (AIM:ANIC, OTC:AGNMF), has received the nod from the Food Standards Authority and DEFRA to sell its cultivated chicken product as pet food.
It is the first approval of its kind globally and follows two years of operational, technical and commercial milestones for Meatly.
With backing from Pets at Home, Meatly is now focused on scaling production while making the cultivated pet food economically viable.
"Today marks a significant milestone for the European cultivated meat industry,” said Meatly chief executive Owen Ensor.
He added: “I am incredibly proud that Meatly is the first European company to get the green light to sell cultivated meat.
“We are proving that there is a safe and low-capital way to rapidly bring cultivated meat to market, as we plan to sell our products to pet owners over the coming months.”
In March, Meatly in collaboration with brand partner Omni, announced that it had created the world’s first cans of pet food that use cultivated chicken as the protein source.
Now that regulatory approval has been granted, Meatly and Omni will be able to market it to consumers (the pet parents of the consumers anyway).
Culture wars
Lab-grown meat for human consumption has gained traction in some countries, with Singapore becoming the first to legalise it in 2020.
The Netherlands became the first European country to approve lab-grown meat in 2023.
Unsurprisingly, the concept has triggered a mini culture war in the US.
Florida’s Republican governor introduced a law banning the product in the state, stating that he wants to "save our beef" from the "global elite" and its "authoritarian plans".