Pioneering Affordable and Safe Cultivated Meat

Our Innovative Streamlined Production Process Prevents Contamination and Reduces Manufacturing Costs?

Recent news of challenges in a cultivated meat pilot plant has raised concerns about the scalability and safety of the entire industry. At SCiFi Foods, we have always been clear about our conviction that developing blended cultivated meat (products made with a combination of cultivated meat cells and plant-based ingredients) is the fastest way to bring an affordable product to market. That’s because blended products are made with relatively simple and scalable manufacturing processes that significantly reduce contamination risk. From day one, we’ve made a bold bet that promising to do what is actually possible is the best way to build this new industry. While 100% cultivated meat is the future, blended products can be real today.

Our techno-economic analysis conducted early in the company's development highlighted the need for a simple manufacturing process without tissue maturation to achieve affordability for our first products. We also know that employing synthetic biology is essential to engineer cell lines with optimal performance metrics. This approach gives us a clear route to be able to produce our cultivated beef burgers for just $1 a burger at commercial scale, with minimal risk of contamination or food safety issues. While we were one of the first companies to be advocating for this approach, we’re now starting to see more and more other companies in the industry follow suit as they realize it’s the only strategy that makes sense in the short term.?

SCiFi Foods' simple production process decreases costs and minimizes the risk of contamination by eliminating the need for a distinct differentiation step. We’re able to do this because of how we combine cultivated meat with plant-based ingredients; using our cultivated cells to bring in the proteins and fats responsible for the flavor and experience of meat, while relying on the plant-based ingredients to provide structure.?

To ensure the highest level of safety and efficiency in our manufacturing facilities, we have partnered with industry-leading engineering firm Jacobs and experienced contractor DPR. Their expertise in designing and building production facilities for the life sciences and biotech industries ensures that our state-of-the-art facilities meet the stringent safety requirements of the FDA and USDA, with production taking place in pharmaceutical-grade bioreactors.

Compared with conventional factory farming and meat production involving a living animal, cultivated meat offers a safer alternative. Contamination risks are common in conventional meat production, particularly during the slaughter process. Even with all of the enhanced food safety practices implemented under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), the USDA still reports recalls or public health notices with the potential to cause significant harm to consumers almost every week. For example, last month the USDA? recalled approximately 3000 pounds of boneless beef chuck product that may have been contaminated with Shiga toxin-producing E. coli. This type of contamination is simply not possible with cultivated meat, where any contamination is immediately evident in the cell culture process, rendering a contaminated batch unusable before it leaves the production facility, and posing no health risk to consumers. Furthermore, cultivated meat production substantially reduces antibiotic use and the risk of zoonotic diseases spreading to humans.

Driven by our dedication to innovation, safety, affordability, and quality, we continue to refine and improve our cultivated meat production process. Our goal is to provide consumers with a delicious, environmentally-friendly, and cost-effective alternative to conventional meat, revolutionizing the food industry and promoting a more sustainable future. As we scale our production, we remain confident in our ability to make a significant positive impact on public health and the environment, solidifying our role as a leader in the cultivated meat revolution.