Steakholder Foods has announced that its biology team has successfully reduced the cost of its in-house growth media for bovine cell cultivation in suspension by more than 75% from prices two years ago.

With the high cost of growth media being a significant challenge across the industry, hindering scalability and affordability, Steakholder Foods hopes to optimise growth methodologies, creating scalable solutions and paving the way for industrial-scale cell production.

The increased affordability of growth media is significant as it is widely believed that technological challenges to the commercialisation of cell-based meat will be overcome before the economic challenges are met. In a statement Steakholder Foods said: “Every cost reduction in materials can be another step towards putting cultivated meat on people’s tables one day soon”.

While reducing costs is essential, maintaining the highest yield and product quality is equally crucial. Steakholder Foods says it has dedicated R&D efforts over the years to focus on both cost reduction and on optimising growth media in suspension to ensure that yields remain consistently high.

The company’s R&D teams achieve this by testing replacements for individual growth media components to optimise the formulation for beef cells without compromising the quality and quantity of the cells.