BSF makes commercial leap for lab-grown meat technology, identifies new markets

.BSF Enterprise's (BSFA) Follow | BSFA subsidiary, 3D Bio Tissues, updated the market on commercial progress for its flagship product, City-Mix, which is a non-toxic culture media supplement for the production of cultivated meat. 

3DBT has secured its first agreement after completing a successful evaluation of City-Mix and has engaged with over 60 Cellular Agriculture companies, of which 26 have progressed to new business opportunities. Of these 22 are currently evaluating the product, of which two companies have completed successful evaluations and are expected to begin purchasing in April 2023

City-Mix uses macromolecular crowding to turn extracted pig cells into structured meat. The technology reduces the need for expensive growth factors by growing cells in a way that eliminates the need for scaffolds, and thus improves yields. 

The company has identified two other target markets and appropriate sales channels for each -  biotech companies, such as those working in gene therapy, stem cells and regenerative medicine; and life Sciences companies and academia, which research the above disciplines. 

In both cases it believes an indirect sales model is the best route to market, and is currently engaging with appropriate distributors in the UK, France, Canada, Australia, Switzerland, Italy and the Netherlands.

3DBT has more than doubled its lab production space and validated its City-Mix production and quality control processes to prepare for commercial opportunities.

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It’s encouraging to see that BSF is making rapid commercial progress after revealing only a month ago that it had produced an edible pork fillet using its City-Mix technology.

Although still in the early phases of its commercial development, 3DBT’s breakthrough is encouraging in respect of both the potential for lowering the cost and - by more closely resembling the look, taste and texture of real meat - driving consumer acceptance of lab-grown meat.

What’s more, lab-grown meat could be an important step in reducing greenhouse gas emissions such as carbon dioxide and methane from traditional meat production, which account for around a quarter of all greenhouse gases. 

Growing awareness of the environmental impact of food production is a key reason why millions more are turning to vegan and vegetarian lifestyles. One recent survey suggested that there were now over 1 million vegans in the UK, around 1.5% of the total population, a figure which has been growing quickly and which would imply almost 100m vegans worldwide. The number of vegans in the US grew 600% from 2m to 20m between 2014 and 108. 

3DBT is well-positioned to tap into this burgeoning growth having recently doubled its lab production capacity to 2,400 sq. ft, allowing it to produce 1,000 litres of City-mix a month. As well as enabling 100% lab-grown meat, the company plans to deploy the serum for artificial leather production, and in skin care and skin replacement products, and the addition of new markets is also encouraging. Follow | BSFA