The founder of Aleph Farms wants to bring cultured meat from the laboratory to the mass market.
(Photo: picture alliance / dpa)
Tel Aviv Laboratory meat is a big promise: It conserves resources, does not require factory farming – and most barbecues should be more peaceful if no more animals are on the grill and Dad gets his steak anyway. A cooperation between the Israeli start-up Aleph Farms and Wacker Chemie from Munich could now help the peace steak achieve a breakthrough.
Because the cultivated meat, that is, grown in the laboratory, is still extremely expensive. It often costs thousands of dollars to make a kilogram. By using Wacker’s new growth medium to grow the tissue, the prices for these proteins could now drop “a thousand times,” says Didier Toubia, the 48-year-old founder and CEO of Aleph Farms.
At the same time, the quality of the molecules would also be improved. By the end of 2022, the first steak made from cell cultures should be on the market “at a premium price”, explains the French-born Israeli Toubia.
In 2027, a cultured piece of meat will cost the same as a traditional steak. That could be the final breakthrough for cruelty-free, CO2-saving laboratory meat.
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Didier Toubia emphasizes: Aleph Farms does not produce meat substitutes, but real meat. In doing so, he also pursues ecological goals: “We are only changing the process of how the meat is produced, with a fraction of the resources, without carbon or methane emissions, and without antibiotics.”
Laboratory meat as a more natural alternative to meat substitutes
His product is more natural than many vegetarian alternatives and can be produced more efficiently and cost-effectively with the help of Wacker’s technology. Protein components in the growth medium currently account for up to 90 percent of the costs. This overcomes an important hurdle on the way to market maturity of the cultivated meat.
The agreement between the German and Israeli partners provides for the technology to be sold to around 40 companies worldwide that produce cultured meat. Toubia doesn’t fear that this could harm his business. On the contrary: the world meat market is estimated at $ 1.2 trillion and is still growing. There is a lot of space for other companies. The Israeli therefore sees his first goal in promoting the new production method for the benefit of the entire industry. However, his medium-term goals are anything but modest: “We want to become a leading global food company with a turnover of billions of dollars.”
In the picture on the left, the beef stem cells from which a steak will be grown in the laboratory in three to four weeks.
(Photo: picture alliance / dpa)
Toubia was able to convince six large meat producers to invest in its start-up: For example the Brazilian BRF, one of the largest food companies in the world; the Swiss Migros, which operates the largest supermarket chain in the country and many restaurants, or the multinational grocer Cargill from the USA, one of the largest companies in the world.
Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCaprio is also there as an investor and advisor. DiCaprio is fascinated by the potential of laboratory meat to curb climate change, says Toubia. Aleph Farms is the only company in the industry that has committed itself to CO2 neutrality. Toubia sees itself as a green entrepreneur: If more cultured meat is consumed, water consumption and land requirements for animal feed cultivation could also be reduced. Sensitive resources in the fight against climate change.
Fighting factory farming in the laboratory
Toubia studied biology and food technology in Dijon and later did a Master of Business Administration at the Israeli Business School Kellogg-Recanati. He mourns traditional cattle breeding for emotional reasons, because farmers used to have a relationship with animals. But in factory farming, the cows and pigs are seen exclusively as protein suppliers.
In the “start-up nation of Israel” he benefits from the fact that cell research and biology, unlike in many Western countries, meets with little resistance and already has a certain tradition. In addition, the state innovation authority finances part of the development budget through an incubator owned by the Strauss Group – one of the largest food and beverage groups in Israel.
Toubia is currently in contact with the relevant authorities in the US and the EU to obtain approvals to sell its meat. He also speaks to religious authorities, imams, and rabbis. They should recognize his steaks as “halal” or “kosher”.
He encountered particularly big problems, however, especially in India: “There we have to prove that the cow is not injured when the cells are removed.”
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