By STAFF REPORT
In late June, the U.S. Department of Agriculture granted its first-ever approval of cultivated (lab-grown or cultured) meat produced by two California-based companies, Good Meat and Upside Foods.
Both companies grow small amounts of chicken cells into slabs of meat, with no slaughtering required. It was the final regulatory approval the companies needed to sell and serve their products in the U.S. at a select handful of restaurants.
It represented a major milestone for the cultivated meat industry, but the companies need additional approval to market cultivated beef, pork or seafood in supermarkets.
Cultivated meat is meat developed from animal cells and grown, with the help of nutrients like amino acids, in massive bioreactors. This is done in a facility that looks a lot like a brewery using technology developed in regenerative medicine.
The recent approval for Good Meat and Upside Foods comes less than a year after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration declared the companies’ products safe to eat.
Meanwhile, cultivated meat producer Believer Meats is constructing a 200,000-square-foot facility in eastern North Carolina that will be the world’s largest cultivated meat production center.
Believer Meats officials said the facility it is building in Wilson will have capacity to produce at least 10,000 metric tons of cultivated meat a year. The company said it plans to invest more than $123 million in the Wilson facility and complete it by the first quarter of 2024.
“Our facility propels Believer forward as a leader in the cultivated meat industry,” said Nicole Johnson-Hoffman, Believer Meats CEO. The company is working toward the approvals that Good Meat and Upside Foods received and other approvals they’re seeking.
“Our brand has continually proven our commitment to scale production technology and capacity, and with our new US production center, we are one step closer to commercialization. Believer is setting the standard globally to make it possible for future generations to eat and enjoy meat.”
The company said it looked at several well-established manufacturing areas in eastern North Carolina because of the highly qualified talent pool and the region’s success in integrating technology-driven solutions.
According to Gov. Roy Cooper’s office, Believer Meats expects to hire at least 100 people over the three years with average annual pay of $60,087.
“We’re pleased to welcome Believer Meats to North Carolina,” said Cooper. “This important decision to build its first U.S. commercial operation in Wilson County validates our innovative research and development and highly skilled talent while further cementing our state as the best in the nation to do business.”
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