?? Mewery's Eventful Journey in 2023

It has been quite a busy year for Mewery regarding events we attended and gave talks or workshops. The cultivated meat industry has been developing at a fast pace despite the economic downturn and lack of new investment deals in 2023. One could see less hype and more realism toward the cultivated meat industry at the events we were part of last year.

Let me share a few insights with you:

?? Tech and Innovation Are Key ??

There were different panels and talks on the innovation needed in bioreactors and culture media spheres. It’s crucial for us to stay updated with these advancements to ensure our products remain affordable and accessible. We also need completely “out-of-the-box” thinking to design and develop new types of affordable, efficient, and food-grade bioreactors and culture media. We could also see that AI will not only play a significant role in our lives but it is entering almost any business, biotech included.

One of the best panels I recall last year was the one at the #MEVO2023 in Berlin, on biomanufacturing and cell and gene therapy solutions for cultivated meats along with Henrietta Hearth, VP of Big Idea Ventures, Jesse McCool, CEO of Wheeler Bio, Inc., Jens H. Vogel, Ph.D., SVP and Global Head of Biotech at Bayer and Bruce Friedrich, Founder & President of The The Good Food Institute, Daan Luining, Founder & CTO at Meatable, George Peppou, CEO & Founder at Vow.

Kudos to Patrick Basanez and Kenzie Barnett for putting together such a great event, #MEVO becomes; my personal highlight event of 2023.

?? Investment Trends and Government Roles ???

It’s clear that we need more investment in our industry. The number of VC deals has significantly decreased in 2023. Still, the good news is that governments like the UK, Netherlands, Germany, Japan, and South Korea are stepping up and investing in cultivated meat and alternative protein development. The governments are playing and will play a crucial role in the R&D programs, as well as support for university programs and helping adapt to this new evolving industry.

??? Regulations - A Maze to Navigate ??

The regulatory landscape is still challenging. While some countries like Singapore and the US "gave a green light" to cultivated meat already some time ago, places like the EU have a more cautious approach to regulations. We need to keep informing the EU as well as politicians to understand the huge benefits cultivated meat brings to our society, especially to our planet and animal welfare. Let’s see how European countries outside the EU, such as Switzerland and the UK, as well as Israel, will progress with their regulatory approval process as they might find a clear framework for the regulatory approvals much faster.

My personal best talk was at the regulatory framework workshop at the Industrializing Cultivated Meat & Seafood Summit event, in Boston, where Robert E. Jones from Mosa Meat held a workshop about regulation hurdles and challenges in Europe.?

?? The Price Challenge and CAPEX Investments

Let’s be realistic; our products are still quite expensive to produce due to the scale we managed to build as an industry worldwide so far. To enter the market successfully, we must find ways to make our products more affordable. Scaling up and reducing costs is the key here. We also need to find ways of scaling more efficiently without the enormous CAPEX investments needed from VCs.

So, what's the approach Mewery takes to deliver a product to customers that won't be put off by the high price?

Based on our proprietary predictive model (TEM), we have identified that the three most significant cost factors in producing 1 kg of our final product are the medium, bioreactors, and labor. I previously outlined a strategy for making bioreactors more affordable. However, our primary focus at Mewery is now on developing cost-effective media. The year 2024 marks a significant milestone in this endeavor, as we aim to achieve a reduction of over 80% in the media's price under laboratory conditions. This reduction is anticipated without volume discounts and is purely a result of technological advancements.

Our breakthrough lies in using a microalgae platform, precisely our innovative method of co-cultivating porcine cells with microalgae. This technology, coupled with the capability to employ our media in a circular system, allows us to use them at a fraction of the cost compared to external sources. Consequently, the cost of the medium becomes almost negligible. This advancement will enable us to potentially offer a homemade BigMac?-style burger at a price comparable to that of a BigMac? sold in McDonald's restaurants across California.

?? "Conscious living" concept ??

We should focus on tailoring our products to local tastes and ensuring the technology is accessible worldwide. We should also focus on the "conscious living" concept – a lifestyle that attracts more and more people and embraces decency and kindness towards the planet. Cultivated meat has the potential for local production, another aspect of the conscious living lifestyle and sustainability efforts. Imagine a self-sufficient city (already on the map), which, apart from its source of power and water, has one or more cultivators in which it grows enough meat for its citizens and potential tourists. Cultivators can supply even bigger kitchens, such as industrial ones, which cannot be supplied by small bio/eco farms.

I really liked the approach of Vow toward cultivators and the scale-up strategy in a presentation about "How Vow scaled up from 0 to 2000" at the Industrializing Cultivated Meat & Seafood Summit in Boston event presented by Katie Bashant Day, and showing a real startup spirit towards very traditional scale-up methods.

?? Progress of 2023

We are delighted in Mewery that at every other conference, new groups or still pop-up startups explore the great potential of microalgae in the alternative protein industry or cultivated meat bioprocesses. This is the greatest evidence that we have decided in the right direction several years ago. There are still so many microalgae kinds not well explored yet, so feel free to join the future of alternative proteins.?

It's also great to see the prompt reaction of all vendors in lab material, media, and consumables. The cultivated meat industry requires more cost-effective solutions in comparison to medical and pharmaceutical research. This is now well understood, and we are glad to see how producers adapt to what the cultivated meat industry is looking for.?

Behind the scenes of cultivated meat is outstanding research that is not only driven by alternative protein companies. We can see new outstanding articles in highly impactful journals from research groups worldwide every month. These findings help the entire industry and have the potential to be used in practice almost immediately.