TL;DR
Get kitchen staples and gadgets delivered free with Prime
- Fast, free delivery on millions of items
- Prime Video, Amazon Music and more included
- Member-only deals all year
A Food Safety News Sunday Edition report describes how cultivated-meat companies moved from attracting billions in investment to a wave of shutdowns in 2025. It cites financing pressure, costly biomanufacturing and long timelines to market, while the industry’s future commercial prospects remain uncertain.
A Food Safety News Sunday Edition report charts a sharp reversal for cultivated-meat startups: after drawing billions of dollars in investment from 2021 to 2023, several companies shut down in 2025 as they struggled to secure funding and reach commercial milestones. The closures, including that of Believer Meats after it built a large North Carolina facility, underline the gap between ambitious plans and the cost and time required to produce cultivated meat at commercial scale.
The report cites Good Food Institute figures showing that cultured meat and seafood companies attracted more than $2.5 billion in investment from 2021 through 2023. It says the figure may be an underestimate because investment was moving quickly. Among the leading recipients by 2023 were Upside Foods, Believer Meats, Wildtype, Aleph Farms and Mosa Meat. Funding came from venture capital, sovereign wealth funds and established meat businesses including Tyson Foods and JBS.
The subsequent pullback was reflected in several closures in 2025. Dutch cultivated-pork company Meatable ceased operations after acquiring Uncommon Bio’s cultivated-meat platform. UK company CellRev said it would shut down after failing to meet commercial milestones in time to secure investment, while Dutch startup Upstream Foods closed after it could not raise the capital it needed to develop cultivated fish fat.
Believer Meats’ closure was particularly visible because the company had completed a $125 million manufacturing plant near Raleigh, North Carolina. The 200,000-square-foot site was designed for cultivated chicken production. According to the report, the company lost a major financial backer and could not obtain a last-minute loan; it stopped operating before producing a commercial product. The report also says the company had received U.S. government approval, but does not specify the approval’s scope.
Why the Factory Closure Matters
The closures show that investment and regulatory approval do not guarantee commercial production. A company can attract substantial financing and build specialized facilities yet still be unable to sustain operations if further funding does not arrive. Believer Meats’ unused plant makes the financial risk tangible for investors, workers and communities expecting a new employer.
The report identifies a basic tension in the business model: cultivated meat is presented as a potential way to produce meat from animal cells without raising and slaughtering whole animals, but the facilities and inputs required to grow cells at scale are expensive. The report says bioreactors require substantial energy and specialized nutrient solutions, while venture funds commonly seek returns within five to seven years. It says commercial viability may be at least a decade away, or longer; that is the report’s assessment, not a confirmed timetable for the industry as a whole.
For readers, the immediate significance is not a change in what meat is available in shops, but a reassessment of how quickly a proposed alternative can move from laboratory and pilot production to reliable, affordable supply. The closures do not establish that cultivated meat cannot succeed, but they show that progress depends on more than the underlying technology.
cultivated meat manufacturing equipment
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
From Cell Samples to Factories
Cultivated meat is produced by growing animal cells in a controlled environment. The report describes a process in which a small sample of stem cells is placed in a culture medium containing materials needed for growth, then cultivated in a bioreactor. Companies have aimed to make products resembling conventional meat without raising an entire animal for its meat.
The idea predates the current startup wave. The report recalls a 1931 essay by Winston Churchill that imagined producing parts of a chicken separately. By 2021, investors were backing companies on the expectation that cultivated meat would reach markets relatively soon. The report says that expectation has weakened as the sector encountered high manufacturing costs and longer development timelines.
One marker of the earlier optimism was the construction of Believer Meats’ North Carolina plant. The report says the facility was expected to become a major production center, but the company ceased operations before making product there. That sequence—from investment and construction to closure—captures the difference between a planned capacity and an operating commercial business.
“We shall escape the absurdity of growing a whole chicken in order to eat the breast or wing, by growing these parts separately under a suitable medium.”
— Winston Churchill, in his 1931 essay “Fifty Years Hence,” as quoted in the Food Safety News report
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
What Commercial Viability Requires
The report does not give a current, sector-wide measure of how much cultivated meat is being produced, how many companies remain funded, or when products might be available at scale. It also does not provide comparable production-cost figures or explain how far costs would need to fall for cultivated meat to compete with conventional meat.
The closures described are evidence of serious difficulties for those companies, but they do not settle the prospects of every developer. The report’s estimate that commercial viability could be a decade or more away is a forecast, not a definitive industry-wide deadline. It remains unclear which companies can secure enough capital, reduce manufacturing costs and meet their own commercial targets.
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
Funding and Scale-Up Milestones
The next indicators will be whether surviving companies can raise financing, demonstrate production at larger volumes and show that their processes can operate at costs that support a business. Any future announcements about new plants or commercial launches will need to be distinguished from completed, operating production capacity.
The Food Safety News report does not identify a specific upcoming industry milestone or provide a timetable for a new product launch. For now, the clearest measure of progress will be whether developers move beyond facilities and plans to sustained production, while explaining how they will fund that path.
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
Key Questions
What happened to cultivated-meat companies in 2025?
The report says several startups shut down, including Meatable, CellRev and Upstream Foods. Believer Meats also ceased operations after losing a major financial backer and failing to secure a last-minute loan.
How much investment did cultivated-meat companies attract?
The Good Food Institute reported that cultured meat and seafood companies received more than $2.5 billion between 2021 and 2023. The report says that total may be an underestimate; it does not provide a separate comparison baseline.
Why did some startups close?
The reasons differed. The report cites difficulties raising capital, missing commercial milestones in time to secure investment, and the high costs of biomanufacturing, including energy and specialized nutrient solutions.
Did Believer Meats produce cultivated chicken at its North Carolina plant?
No. The report says the company ceased operations before producing anything at its completed 200,000-square-foot facility near Raleigh.
Does the report say cultivated meat will not succeed?
No. It describes closures and commercial challenges but does not conclude that the entire field will fail. The future timing and commercial prospects remain uncertain.
Source: rss
Columbus Day / Indigenous Peoples' Day Picks
long weekend sales
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
