Investors Back Arsenale Bioyards with $10M to Scale AI-Driven Precision Fermentation
Arsenale Bioyards has raised $10 million in seed financing to support its efforts in reducing biomanufacturing costs and accelerating industrial-scale adoption of bio-based alternatives. The funding round was led by Planet A and byFounders, with additional participation from CDP Ventures, Acequia Capital, Plug and Play, Gray Silo Ventures, and several industrial family offices. The company focuses on optimizing precision fermentation, a process that utilizes microorganisms such as yeast or bacteria …
Updated: Italy’s “Feather to Meat” Project Expands to Larger-Scale Cultivated Chicken Trials
Update: We have been contacted by Remo Nannetti, manager of the Save The Chickens Foundation, who wishes to highlight other facts about the Feather to Meat Project, as follows: The project, which began at the end of 2022 and will end at the end of this year or the beginning of 2025, is halfway through the research, indicating that industrial production is possible. Building on the positive outcomes (described in …
Italian Cultivated Meat Ban Could Be “Unenforceable” Due to Violation of EU Scrutiny Procedure
The European Commission has said that Italy violated an EU scrutiny procedure by banning cultivated meat without allowing other member states or the Commission itself to give their views. The Italian government first proposed the ban in March of last year, citing a lack of studies on the effects of cultivated meat. In October, it was revealed that a draft law proposing the ban had been withdrawn from EU scrutiny, …
These Italian Researchers Are Developing Chicken Meat From a Feather
Researchers from an Italian university are studying how to obtain chicken meat from a feather. The project taking place via professors Luciano Conti and Stefano Maria Biressi at the University of Trento was assigned and financed by the Italian Save the Chickens Foundation, which contacts vegconomist with the news. Researcher Nike Schiavo, MSc Biotechnology, is overseeing the experiments for the project and is currently completing the draft report, according to …
ProVeg and Cellular Agriculture Europe Respond to Italy’s War on Cultivated Meat
Two European organisations involved in food system awareness, ProVeg International and Cellular Agriculture Europe, have responded to Italy’s war on cultivated meat to protect the country’s food tradition. An approved bill that still needs to be passed by the parliament states that “lab food” in general, but particularly cultivated meat, is not guaranteed safe. Reportedly, the proposed text does not address the EU’s ability to approve a novel food such as cultivated meat. It …
Italy Proposes Ban on Cultivated Meat to Protect Food Heritage from Tech Innovations
Georgia Meloni’s right-wing government approved a bill yesterday to ban the production and sale of “synthetic foods” in Italy. The move aims to protect the country’s culture and food heritage from technological innovations, reportedly citing a lack of studies on the effect of synthetic foods, particularly on cultivated meat. If the proposal is passed by parliament, the Italian industry will not be allowed to produce any food or feed produced …
Cocoa-Free Chocolate From WNWN Selected by Milan’s Luxury Gift Service DLISH
WNWN Food Labs, which describes itself as the first-ever company to bring cocoa-free chocolate to market, announces a deal to supply its bean-free gianduja product to Milan-based luxury gift service DLISH. The news closes a successful year for the London-based alt chocolate producer, which just last month announced the construction of a new facility in Hackney Wick, including space for R&D, manufacturing, a test kitchen, and offices, signifying an eight-fold …
Ergo Bioscience & Aethera Biotech Partner to Scale Up Animal-Free Ingredients
Delaware-based Ergo Bioscience has announced a collaboration with Italy’s Aethera Biotech to scale up its precision fermentation bioprocesses. Ergo uses precision fermentation to efficiently express complex animal proteins, while Aethera specialises in industrial plant cell culturing. The latter has a biotech fermentation platform called CROP, which has a capacity of over 120 tons per year. Together, Ergo and Aethera will use plant suspension to produce proteins on an industrial scale. …
New Survey Reveals Meat Consumption is Declining Across Western Europe
A recent survey reveals that consumers are shifting to meat alternatives and choosing plant-based meats. Concerns about animal agriculture, the environment, and willingness to buy cultivated meat products were among the most relevant findings. The survey questioned 4,096 people across Germany, France, Italy, and Spain about their meat consumption habits and attitudes toward sustainable proteins. The study was commissioned by the GFI, the leading NGO promoting and educating about alternative proteins, …