Cargill invests in Israeli 3D tissue engineering startup Aleph Farms

Cargill has reportedly announced that it would be investing in Aleph Farms, an Israeli meat start-up focused on developing complex meat varieties such as steak. Cargill is formally participating in a Series A round of funding led by Singaporean investor VisVires New Protein (VVNP)and joined by various other investors seeking to shift Aleph Farms' product from prototype to the commercial marketplace.

Seemingly, by using a 3D tissue engineering platform, Aleph Farms produces meat directly from beef cells. It had attained a world-first when in December 2018 the company showed it can produce lab-grown steak directly from bovine cells.

According to the Managing Director of growth ventures and strategic pricing for Cargill Protein North America, Sonya Roberts, this partnership brings novel frontiers in cell-based technology with insights in the supply chains and global food system to meet future customer and consumer needs.

Roberts further mentioned that the consumer demand for protein continues to be very robust. That means there is an opportunity for cultured and plant protein growth to complement the company’s traditional animal protein offerings. While cultured proteins form a comparatively small portion of Cargill's portfolio, the company perceives value in funding innovators like Aleph Farms.

Sources familiar with the matter mentioned that Aleph Farms is also planning to begin creating bio-farms and would shift its focus towards a limited consumer product launch, with steak developed under controlled conditions in three-to-five years.

For the record, in 2017, Cargill was an early stage investor in Memphis Meats, California-based food technology company. Apart from this, Cargill also invested in plant-based protein foods through Puris, a firm that has introduced a new pea-based protein which is organic, non-GMO, and allergen-friendly. All these investments are complementary to the company's traditional animal protein portfolio, which has amounted to over $1.5 billion over the past several years.

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