Israel opens world's first artificial meat factory

Israeli startup Future MEAT Technologies Ltd. opened in the city of Rehovot "the world's first enterprise for the industrial cultivation of meat." The developers plan to replace chicken coops and slaughterhouses with bioreactors for the production of cell-based meat, writes BLOOMBERG.

The enterprise can produce 500 kilograms of meat per day and offers farmed chicken, pork and lamb, and will start producing beef in the near future. By the end of next year, the company intends to become a supplier of US restaurants . This is already being negotiated with regulators.

According to startup CEO Rom Kshuk, the opening of the enterprise is a huge step towards future meat technologies, which will bring products to the shelves by 2022. He expressed hope that this will help reduce the impact of the meat industry on the world, make the environment healthier and provide real alternatives to meat from slaughtered animals.

More than 75 companies in the world are engaged in the cultivation of meat by growing protein cells, instead of slaughtering animals. They raised record funding last year. And since the first prototypes, startups have reduced costs by 99 percent, and if consumers turn to their products, the market could reach $25 billion by 2030, McKinsey & Co. said in a report. But to compete with traditional meat, companies need to cut costs even further.

An Israeli startup has raised $43 million in investors. The company claims that they have the lowest price for cultured chicken breast. Kshuka said he was able to bring the cost down to four dollars (288.7 rubles) per 100 grams, a fraction of the original price. it plans to cut that price in half by the end of 2022.

Kshuk added that a running industrial line speeds up key processes such as regulation and product development. Future Meat creates 80 percent less greenhouse gas emissions, uses 99 percent less land, and uses 96 percent less water than traditional meat farming and production. Their experience could help open similar facilities in other countries, especially in the US and UK, where plant-based meat alternatives are growing in popularity. The startup focuses on one of the largest markets for meat consumption - the United States, then considers expanding to Europe and CHINA .

In May, it became known that US residents began to massively refuse beef because of fears of harming the climate. Americans compared the damage to the environment from its consumption with the harm from the use of coal. According to ecologists, it is the breeding of cows that has a devastating effect on the climate. This is because cattle emit a huge amount of greenhouse gas during their lives.