UK-based cultivated meat company Meatly has partnered with ethical pet food brand Omni to launch the “world’s first” cans of pet food that use cell-based chicken as the protein source.
Once the product has been granted regulatory approval, Meatly-produced pet food will be made available in shops across the UK through partnerships with retailers and manufacturers like Omni.
As an early investor in Meatly, British pet supplies retailer Pets at Home expects to be the first retailer to offer these products in its stores.
Formerly known as 'Good Dog Food', the cell-based meat company rebranded as Meatly in November last year and has been working with the UK's Food Standards Agency and the Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs to obtain approval for its cell-based chicken pet food to become available to buy in the UK.
Owen Ensor, co-founder and CEO of Meatly, said: "It is incredibly exciting to see the first ever cans of cultivated pet food fly off the production line. This is a major milestone for cultivated meat globally and shows that we are ready to sell product...Cultivated meat gives pet parents an easy choice – high-quality, tasty, nutritious and sustainable pet food. We're thrilled to work with innovative companies like Omni to make this a reality as soon as possible."
Omni’s founder, Guy Sandelowsky, commented: “Meatly’s ingredient is incredibly exciting to us at Omni, not only because it represents a virtually infinite, cruelty-free source of meat but also because it can be optimised for health. This means more essential vitamins, minerals and omegas, and an elimination of the troublesome components that can be found in traditional meat, such as antibiotic residues. We see the ingredient of particular importance to the cat food market, which lacks credible alternative protein solutions currently.”
David Wainwright, commercial director at Pets at Home, added: “We are excited to be a part of Meatly’s journey and are looking forward to being the first retailer to offer their products in our pet care centres. While it is still early days, we are committed to helping drive change in the industry and finding sustainable alternatives to replace some of the protein used globally in pet food would be a major step forward.”
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