New advancements in the cultivated meat sector are defying early skepticism and surpassing expectations. A report from Lever VC reveals how the industry has broken through cost barriers once deemed insurmountable, with production costs plummeting and media costs dropping below $1 per litre. We explore...

The world’s first cultivated beef burger debuted in 2013 with a staggering production cost of €250,000, skepticism about the scalability of cultivated meat was widespread. Techno-economic assessments (TEAs), like the influential study by David Humbird, projected that achieving media costs below $1 per litre was critical but highly unlikely.

Humbird also concluded that even with media costs under $1 per litre and extremely large-scale production, reaching production costs below $16 per kilogram was essentially impossible. The Counter further asserted that such cost reductions were implausible, fuelling media narratives from outlets like Bloomberg and WSJ that cast doubt on the industry's future viability.

Comparisons were made to other technologies, such as solar panels and electric vehicles, which faced early criticism for being too costly and complex to scale, only to later revolutionise their industries. Similar to the solar panel and electric vehicle industries, which were long criticised for being too complex, inefficient, lacking the necessary infrastructure and prohibitively expensive, cultivated meat faces similar skepticism today.

However, just as those industries eventually surpassed these expectations and revolutionised their fields, cultivated meat holds similar potential. The success of solar panels and electric vehicles was driven by technical innovation and perseverance within the industry, as well as significant support from government funding and supportive legislation – a level of backing that cultivated meat has not yet received.

Critics once argued that these technologies would never become affordable or efficient enough to reach mass adoption, but relentless innovation and scaling efforts proved them wrong, ultimately transforming entire industries and setting new standards for cost efficiency and environmental impact.

Update: Costs plummeted and expectations surpassed

Today, the cultivated meat industry has decisively proven the skeptics wrong. Lever VC has directly observed multiple companies achieving groundbreaking cost reductions. Media costs – the centrepiece of many early critiques – have dropped below $1 per litre, a critical milestone once deemed unreachable.

At least three companies are operating at or below $0.50 per litre, with at least one significantly undercutting even that figure. These achievements have translated to production costs for cell mass as low as $10 to $15 per kilogram, with some leading-edge companies achieving costs as low as $8 per kilogram.

Lever VC’s internal analysis corroborates these advancements, which reflect the industry’s rapid maturation. Companies are not only slashing media costs but also innovating in bioreactor design, opting for tailored, food-grade solutions that bypass expensive pharmaceutical-grade materials. This progress highlights how quickly the cultivated meat sector has adapted and scaled, outpacing early TEA projections by Humbird and others.

How costs will come down further

While the industry has achieved remarkable milestones, further cost reductions are on the horizon. Companies are employing a range of innovative strategies to continue driving down costs:

Hybrid products: By blending cultivated meat with plant-based ingredients, companies can reduce the amount of cell mass required while maintaining the desired taste and texture.

Undifferentiated cell mass: Focusing on producing basic cell mass, rather than fully structured tissue, simplifies production and lowers costs.

In-house media production: Cultivated meat companies are producing growth factors internally, eliminating third-party pharmaceutical markups and ensuring consistent quality.

Efficient bioreactors: Leveraging innovations such as continuous production models and perfusion reactors to increase yields while reducing overall capital expenditure.

These approaches represent pragmatic, scalable solutions designed to ensure that cultivated meat remains on a trajectory toward mass affordability.

Conclusion

The remarkable progress of the cultivated meat industry in just two years has shattered earlier TEA projections and media narratives that doubted its viability. Media costs below $1 per litre and production costs as low as $8 per kilogram are no longer theoretical goals – they are realities.

Lever VC has witnessed firsthand how cultivated meat companies have harnessed innovation and determination to achieve these breakthroughs, echoing the transformative trajectories of technologies once dismissed as unattainable.

As the industry continues to innovate, it is proving that cultivated meat has the potential to reshape food production on a global scale. The reality may differ from the original visions of cultivated meat pioneers, but cultivated meat is undeniably poised to drive our food system toward a more sustainable future.