US-based cell-based meat company Omeat has announced the completion of its pilot plant located outside of Los Angeles, California.

The 15,000-square-foot pilot plant is designed to house bioreactors up to 10,000 litres in size, with the capacity to produce up to 400 tons of product annually.

Omeat's chief technology officer Jim Miller said: "We now have an integrated, farm-to-table supply chain. Omeat's process begins at our farm with the collection of plasma from Omeat's herd of Holstein cows. The plasma is transported to the new pilot facility, where it's used to derive Plenty, Omeat's affordable and effective proprietary growth factor that replaces the need for foetal bovine serum. Inside Omeat's bioreactors, Plenty and bovine cells are combined to produce Omeat ground beef. It's a breakthrough process for making meat that is pure, delicious and consistent."

Omeat says that the opening of its pilot plant is a significant step forward in bringing cell-based meat to consumers and addressing the growing demand for more sustainable protein sources. The plant will provide data and insights for scaling up production. The completion of the pilot plant will enable Omeat to demonstrate the intricacies of its process at scale, establishing a clear path for regulatory review and approval.

Omeat's founder and CEO, Ali Khademhosseini, added: "Omeat's pilot plant is a major accomplishment for our company and the industry at large. We continue to push the boundaries for cultivated meat and challenge existing processes. We're pioneering a very unique farm-to-table approach that enables us to create delicious real meat with a fraction of the resources needed to produce conventional meat. It's a more humane and sustainable way to satisfy the growing global appetite for meat.”

He continued: “We remain confident that at scale, Omeat's prices will be less than conventional meat, providing accessibility to high-quality protein worldwide”.

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