A start-up in the Czech Republic has become the first company to get the European Union's nod to make lab-grown meat for use in pet food. Bene Meat Technologies, the company, has got the EU registration and aims to increase production of the ‘cultivated meat' to several metric tonnes per day as early as next year.
There are a number of players in the field of commercial production of lab-grown meat and fish products for consumers who are concerned about the environmental impact of livestock farming, a major source of greenhouse gases. It is also aimed at those consumers who are concerned about ethical issues.
In the United States, two companies, Upside Foods and Good Meat have won approval for cultivated meat for human consumption. This meat is grown from animal cells grown in laboratory conditions. However, manufacturing on a large scale is yet to begin.
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In the case of Bene Meat, the company is focusing on the pet food sector. It aims to supply cultivated meat to global pet food makers as raw material to include in their final products.
“Today we have become the first company globally that has an official authorisation for the production and sale of cultivated meat for cats and dogs,” said Managing Director Roman Kriz as quoted by Reuters.
Bene Meat has said that its product has received certification in the European Feed Materials Register. Kriz told Reuters that manufacturing costs will enable the company to sell the product around price levels of premium and super-premium pet foods.
The company is now taking steps to check how tasty its product is to animals and simultaneously to boost production at its laboratory in Prague. The company is also looking at new premises.
“Right now we are in the order of kilograms per day,” Kriz said. “We expect that during next year we will get to the level of hundreds of kilograms to single tonnes every day.”
Bene Meat was started by BTL Group, a Czech maker of medical devices. The start-up was set up in the year 2020 and has more than 80 researchers and developers working with it. Kriz reportedly said that BTL group has poured in investment of “high single millions” of euros. The managing director said that the group is expecting that Bene Meat will be financially self-sufficient next year. The company also has plans to develop lab-grown meat for human consumption.
(With inputs from agencies)
