Cargill invests in cultured meat company Aleph Farms
With an eye to complementing its focus on animal protein, Cargill has announced it will invest in Aleph Farms, a cultured meat company focused on growing complex meat varieties like steak.
With an eye to complementing its focus on animal protein, Cargill has announced it will invest in Aleph Farms, a cultured meat company focused on growing complex meat varieties like steak. Cargill is participating in a Series A investment round led by VisVires New Protein and joined by several other investors looking to move Aleph Farms’ product from prototype to the commercial marketplace. Aleph Farms grows meat directly from beef cells using a 3D tissue engineering platform. In December 2018, it achieved a world-first by demonstrating it could grow a steak directly from bovine cells.
While cultured proteins represent a relatively small portion of Cargill’s portfolio, the company sees value in investments in innovators like Aleph Farms.
"Cargill is committed to innovation and we are delighted to be a part of Aleph’s accelerated growth," said Sonya Roberts, managing director of growth ventures and strategic pricing for Cargill Protein North America. "This partnership connects new frontiers in cell-based technology with insights in the global food system and supply chains to meet future customer and consumer needs."
Aleph Farms plans to begin building bio-farms and move toward a limited consumer product launch with steak grown under controlled conditions in three to five years.
The investment in Aleph Farms builds on Cargill’s other partnerships in alternative protein. In 2017, Cargill was an early investor in Memphis Meats, a company leading the way in development of cultured meat. Cargill also is an investor in plant-based protein through Puris, a firm that has launched a new pea-based protein that is non-GMO, organic, and allergen-friendly.