Israel Innovation Authority sets up cultivated meat consortium
The Israel Innovation Authority has approved the establishment of the cultivated meat consortium, one of the biggest in the world. Together with the business sector and academia, they will invest NIS 66 million into the consortium over three years, half of which will be paid by the government. Market sources believe that the total amount invested may eventually exceed NIS 70 million.
The aim of the consortium is to develop innovative production methods on an industrial and efficient scale, in order to provide Israel’s cultivated meat industry with a competitive advantage in international markets.
The consortium, which will be led by Israel food giant Tnuva, will encompass 14 companies and 10 academic laboratories. Consortium members will also include Aleph Farms, Super Meat, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv University. One of the main aims of the consortium is to connect academia and industry, and bring academic research about cultivated meat “down to earth.”
The consortium will tackle many topics, including the shelf life of products, new foods, use of existing food production lines for ingredients, reduction of production costs, and more.
Over the coming months, four working groups will begin to operate, focusing on developing technologies for cell growth of muscle and fat, bioreactor technologies and developing production, scaffold technologies, and growth technologies and their components.
Tnuva chief innovation and corporate venturing officer Shay Cohen will serve as chairman of the consortium. He described the investment as unprecedented in the field of cultivated meat.
“Collaboration between leading companies in developing cultivated meat and leading food producers, who bring the know-how and ability to convert production technology to an industrial scale, and academic researchers, is vital for creating breakthroughs and making products accessible to the public at large,” he said. “Israel, led by the Innovation Authority, represents an example of excellence in the way states must operate.”
Israel cultivated meat companies raised $507 million in 2021 led by Future Meat, which raised $347 million for a production plant in the US, and Aleph Farms, which raised $105 million. (Globes/TNS)