UK cell-based protein business Meatly has received regulatory clearance to sell cultivated meat for use in pet food in its home market, a first in Europe.
The UK green light is also the first such approval anywhere in the world.
London-based Meatly described the news as “a huge leap forward for the cultivated-meat industry” after passing the UK's Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) “rigorous inspection process”.
It said it has already “secured brand partnerships and production of its products with leading pet food brands”.
Meatly's production facility has now been approved by the UK's Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs and APHA to produce and handle its cultivated chicken.
Meatly, which was established in 2022, said it has proactively prepared a safety dossier and conducted testing to demonstrate that its cultivated chicken is safe and healthy for pets.
The company said it plans to launch the first samples of "commercially available pet food" this year will start scaling production to reach "industrial volumes" in the next three years.
Meatly’s B2B focus
Asked for further information, a Meatly spokesperson told Just Food it is not intending to create products targeted at consumers itself.
“We are focused on B2B partnerships with leading pet food manufacturers,” the spokesperson said.
The cost of production, and specifically of the medium, usually fetal bovine serum, needed to grow the animal cells, has been seen as one of the barriers to bringing products to market on a meaningful scale. Meatly says it has developed a low cost, protein-free media which significantly reduces production costs.
The company is backed by £3.5m ($4.6m) in investment, with investors including UK pet-food retailer Pets at Home. Its board includes campaigner and former UK government ‘food tsar’ Henry Dimbleby.
Commenting on today’s announcement, Meatly CEO Owen Ensor said: “Today marks a significant milestone for the European cultivated-meat industry. I’m incredibly proud that Meatly is the first company in Europe 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.
Jim Mellon, founder of Agronomics, an investor in Meatly, added: “Through its technological innovation and close work with governing authorities, Meatly is helping prove that we can succeed in commercialising cultivated products for pets across the UK.
“Our pets consume huge amounts of meat every day and so this development can play a crucial part in reducing the emissions, resource consumption, and animal suffering caused by traditional meat production.”
The Meatly spokesperson told Just Food that while all of its processes and products are safe and healthy for humans, it is “primarily focused on pet food”.
But they added: “We will likely license our industry-leading technology to human food companies.”
The spokesperson said the next markets on its radar will be the US, Canada and the EU “for pet food initially”.
Cell-based meat for human consumption has so far been approved in the US, Singapore and Israel. The EU has yet to take a decision on it although some European countries, such as Italy and Austria, have said they will ban it, as have a number of US states.
