Israeli startup Aleph Farms has recently announced that it is collaborating with biomanufacturing specialists BBGI and Fermbox Bio to produce cultivated meat in Thailand. Construction of the facility, which will have a capacity of under 1,000 tons per year and bioreactors ranging from 2,000 to 5,000 liters, will begin in the second half of 2024 and will likely take 18-24 months.
Fermbox Bio founder Subramani Ramachandrappa also founded Laurus Bio, which, among other things, produces cell culture media ingredients such as growth factors via microbial fermentation. As a result, Ramachandrappa acquired knowledge of sustaining, growing, and proliferating a multitude of animal cell types.
Meanwhile, BBGI will provide the infrastructure and financial support necessary to scale manufacturing processes.
Aleph Farms also recently signed an agreement with Thai seafood giant Thai Union to develop the Thai market jointly. Research shows that 97% of Thai people are interested in trying cultivated meat, highlighting the opportunity offered by the market.
Having raised USD 140 million from backers, including private equity firm L Catterton, food giant Cargill, and UAE sovereign wealth fund DisruptAD, Aleph Farms is one of the better-funded players in the sector.
The first products from Aleph Farms will be its signature thin beef steaks (Aleph Cuts), a premium but not luxury product that the company makes in a two-stage process. It first proliferates cells in a bioreactor and then transfers them to a tissue bioreactor, where multiple cell types are co-cultured around edible scaffolding to create thin strips of tissue.
(Source: Aleph Farms)
