Cultivated meat, grown directly from animal cells without the need for traditional livestock farming, represents a paradigm shift in the global food industry. In a recent interview with Muhammad Younis, Cellcraft LTD's CEO and Co-Founder Yash Mishra shared his vision for the future of cultivated meat. Yash talked about the strategies needed to influence perceptions in regions with deep-rooted farming traditions, and the delicate balance between fostering innovation and achieving industry-wide acceptance. He also highlighted how Cellcraft’s pioneering B2B model empowers businesses of all sizes to produce cultivated meat, offering a disruptive yet inclusive solution to reshape market dynamics and democratize sustainable food production globally.
#LBS: Cultivated meat aims to be sustainable, but scaling up could bring environmental challenges. How can the sector address the energy and resource demands of large-scale cell cultivation to ensure it remains more sustainable than traditional farming?
Yash Mishra: Cultivated or Cellcraft meat is real meat made up of animal cells grown under controlled conditions in a machine called a bioreactor. It can be a safe and sustainable alternative to animal farming. It is estimated that producing cultivated meat could reduce land requirements by as much as 90%, water use by as much as 66% and the carbon footprint by as much as 92% for producing meat according to the Good Food Institute. Although it does require more energy, any negative impacts of this can be mitigated by only using renewable energy to produce cultivated meat. We are collaborating with a meat company who generate their own clean energy, which could be used to power our advanced Cellcraft technologies sustainably and efficiently. The cultivated meat industry can strategically implement technologies and energy efficient production processes to minimize resource requirements and waste production. For example, at Cellcraft, we are developing and/or using strategies like media (feed) recycling, intelligent bioreactors with real-time, precise control, and Machine Learning for the multi-objective optimisation of the entire process and ingredients to reduce costs and increase efficiency without compromising on taste
#LBS: Cultivated meat has the potential to shift cultural and ethical views on meat consumption. How can the industry influence perceptions and drive adoption, especially in regions with strong traditions in animal farming?
Yash Mishra: The cultivated meat industry can drive adoption by educating the public as well as involving the present stakeholders and working with them. Cellcraft is creating the ‘Cellcraft® Farm’, an end-to-end cultivated meat manufacturing platform, to empower food producers to make their own delicious, sustainable cultivated meats locally. We are working with existing meat companies and even organisations that work with farmers. This can boost the adoption of cultivated meat by enabling the food producers to easily transition to this new, automated way of producing meat for the digital age without needing to spend years and millions on developing this novel technology themselves.
Consumer acceptance will also be improved as consumers already trust these current food producers and have been eating their products for years, so they are more likely to try cultivated meat if it comes from brands that they already trust, who can use our technology to customize the cultivated meat they will produce to meet customer expectations. We believe that as more people are educated about cultivated meat and how it is produced, consumers will be more willing to adopt it, so the industry needs to proceed with transparency and create more awareness, which even answering this questionnaire and participating in the London Biotechnology Show can help with.
#LBS: In democratising sustainable food with Cellcraft meat, what challenges do you see in balancing innovation with industry adoption, especially among traditional meat producers?
Yash Mishra: The industry-wide adoption of cultivated meat technologies requires comprehensive educational and awareness initiatives that demystify the innovation and address consumer uncertainties. These initiatives can effectively mitigate apprehension and foster informed acceptance, mirroring the successful public engagement strategies employed during the introduction of previous transformative technologies.
Traditional meat producers know that their customers want healthy options, so it is imperative to create awareness that cultivated meat can be a healthier and safer alternative to meat from animal farming, including without using any antibiotics. Additionally, Cellcraft’s bioelectronic sensors, deployed with defined, animal component-free cell differentiation medias (feed) and robust cell lines can enable the meat producers to control the composition and nutritional profiles of the meats they produce to create healthier options, such as low-fat variants. These technologies also help control the taste of the meat produced, which is one of the most important factors when it comes to consumer acceptance, which can drive industry adoption.
Meat producers have been regularly innovating to improve efficiency and drive down costs including extensive use of automation, and many of them are very open to adopting new technologies. Recently, we collaborated with MBA students from the University of Cambridge Judge Business School on a project to identify ways we can work with traditional meat producers and their findings showed that cultivated meat technologies can integrate well into existing meat production strategies and workflows as many of the steps and machines which are used for producing more conventional meat products like sausages can also be used with cultivated meat too.
Cultivated meat has to be commercially viable for traditional meat producers to adopt it, which is why we are reducing costs using:
- Machine Learning and our proprietary bioelectronic sensors to find the best ingredients
- Rapidly growing, robust cell lines without genetic modification (non-GMO)
- Smart bioreactors to give cells the optimal environment for efficiency
- Low-cost, defined, animal component-free media (feeds) for lamb and pork
#LBS: With your B2B solution enabling anyone to produce meat, how do you see it disrupting current market dynamics? What strategies ensure it remains accessible and beneficial to both large and small producers globally?
Yash Mishra: Many countries today face food security challenges, for example nations like the UK, Singapore, Japan, and a few in the Middle East, etc. have to rely on imports for a significant portion of their meat consumption. This not only increases prices but also greenhouse gas emissions as the meat needs to be shipped across countries using cold-chain transportation.
Although the world’s 1st cultivated meat burger was unveiled in 2013 and a decade has passed since then, there is still no commercially viable cultivated meat production process. There are very high barriers to enter into the cultivated meat industry, such as the need to spend as much as over US $100 million and 5-10 years on deep-tech, specialist R&D, which prevent widespread adoption.
With our B2B solution- the Cellcraft® Farm, an end-to-end cultivated meat manufacturing platform, we can empower food producers anywhere in the world to produce their own delicious, affordable, sustainable cultivated meats locally. By providing an automated manufacturing platform that is ready to use and has already got regulatory approval, we aim to remove the barriers to enter the cultivated meat industry and enable widespread adoption. Our partners can skip the entire R&D and novel foods regulatory approval stages and get straight into production as we are using a Quality-by-Design approach and input from meat producers to develop an automated, scalable and modular platform that food producers can customise and use. Local meat production can reduce shipping costs and emissions. Hence, we are giving food producers the tools to shape the future of food production themselves, so no one gets left behind in this race to reinvent meat for the 21st century.
#LBS: What is your view about events like the London Biotechnology Show which aims to be a pivotal platform to discuss and display biotech solutions?
Yash Mishra: Events like the London Biotechnology Show are a vital platform for small start-ups like us to not only showcase our technologies, but also connect with various stakeholders, including policy-makers, suppliers, customers, investors, etc. Listening to the amazing line-up of speakers will be inspiring and stimulating conversations whilst networking at such a widely attended event is always very enriching. We have met some of our most important suppliers at such events, which are also often the cradle for starting exciting new collaborations. As a B2B company, conventional means of marketing are not really effective for us, so events like this are one of the best ways for us to showcase our solutions, gauge interest and gather feedback from potential customers and stakeholders to inform our decision making. They are not only a platform for thought leadership, but also one of the few ways to keep up with the latest advancements across biotechnology and get exclusive news and offers. The Startup Showcase at the London Biotechnology Show is a unique opportunity for small, ambitious startups like us to reach out and connect with industry leaders, investors, and mentors who can help us grow, reach our full potential, and make a real impact. We are very enthusiastic about #LBS2025!
