Mission Barns has announced its upcoming retail launch and first restaurant partnership for its cultivated bacon and meatballs. This development follows the company’s recent regulatory clearance from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its cell-cultivated pork fat, marking a significant milestone in the quest for sustainable food sources.
Mission Barns received a 'no questions' letter from the FDA, confirming that its cultivated pork fat is as safe as comparable food products. This approval not only establishes Mission Barns as the first company globally to receive regulatory clearance for cell-cultivated pork fat but also sets a precedent in the cultivated meat sector, which has faced significant challenges in securing funding and regulatory support.
Eitan Fischer, founder and CEO of Mission Barns, said: “Food security and the health of our food system is a big challenge we are tackling. We need to innovate to find more efficient ways to produce delicious food products to feed the world.” He highlighted the fat-first approach as a key strategy, noting that fat is crucial for flavour and juiciness and is less costly and faster to produce than lean meat.
The company’s products, Italian Style Cultivated Meatballs and Applewood Smoked Cultivated Bacon, will be available in partnership with Fiorella, an Italian restaurant group based in San Francisco. This collaboration represents Mission Barns' first restaurant launch partner, showing its commitment to integrating cultivated meat into mainstream dining.
In addition to the restaurant partnership, Mission Barns plans to sell its products at a national supermarket chain, making it the first grocery store in the US to offer cultivated meat. These venues will be significant as they become the first places worldwide to sell cultivated pork products, marking a historic moment in the food industry.
Brandon Gillis, co-founder of Fiorella, expressed his enthusiasm for the partnership, stating: “I’ve been keeping tabs on the cultivated meat industry as a potential solution to the vulnerabilities of our global food supply chain. After tasting Mission Barns’ products, I wanted to ensure we created a partnership for this historic moment.”
Mission Barns aims to improve food security through its innovative production methods, which require only a single harmless sample from a pig to produce cultivated pork fat. This approach enables the company to generate the equivalent meat output of millions of farm animals, significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions, land and water usage, and the risks associated with livestock disease outbreaks.
Fischer continued: “By advancing cultivated meat production, we are helping to create a more reliable food system and reinforcing American leadership in food innovation.” The cultivated products are designed to meet the growing consumer demand for delicious, healthy, and responsibly produced meat alternatives.
The FDA’s approval of Mission Barns’ cultivated pork fat is a notable advancement in the regulatory framework governing cultivated meat in the US. Under a joint oversight model, the FDA manages the cell collection and growth processes, while the USDA oversees the production and labeling of the final food products. This regulatory clarity is expected to pave the way for further innovations and investments in the cultivated meat sector.
Image credit: Mission Barns
