Biopharma manufacturing major Stämm has expanded its food-tech capabilities with the promise of improving stem cell culture processing, in turn bringing down the cost of meat alternatives.
The Buenos Aires-based business has partnered with Tel Aviv-headquartered alt-meat firm SuperMeat to enhance the latter’s cultivated chicken production processes.
Stämm’s automated continuous bubble-free-bioreactor has the potential to increase volumetric productivity by fifteen times.
The partnership comes as Varana Capital, a mutual investor in both businesses, has agreed to provide strategic support to advance the project.
How to make cultivated meat cheaper
“By integrating Stämm’s innovative bioreactor technology into SuperMeat’s production process, the collaboration aims to enhance muscle fiber growth and adipocyte formation,” a Varana Capital spokesperson says.
The partnership will yield mature muscle tissue and organic whole-cut pieces that resemble conventional meat in both structure and flavour.
“The ultimate goal is to produce high-quality, whole-cut cultivated chicken meat that meets consumer expectations,” the spokesperson adds.
A new type of production set up will be built through the partnership, using micro-vascular channels, that will allow for the easy growth and proliferation of any type of cells with a wide range of uses.
Success will be measured based on how much improved yields of the cultivated chicken protein are, while also maintaining or boosting efficiency.
“This involves rigorous evaluation to ensure that the integration not only meets the required quality standards but also offers superior performance metrics,” says the spokesperson.
Cultivated meat production improvement
“Following successful validation, we will jointly work toward the next phase of our collaboration focusing on integrating Stamm’s bioprocessor into SuperMeat’s existing production lines and scale up the process to prepare for commercial distribution.”
It is hoped the collaboration will yield a new standard in the cultivated meat industry by demonstrating how advanced biomanufacturing technologies can enhance muscle fibre growth, elongation, and fusion into mature muscle tissue, as well as adipocyte formation.
Advancing production would also lead to changing CAPEX and cost structures within the cultivated meat category, while supporting the long-term goal of making cultivated meat more accessible, the spokesperson claims.
“This partnership demonstrates how complementary technologies can combine to drive progress in the cultivated meat industry”, said SuperMeat CEO Ido Savir.
“By uniting our technologies, we create a pathway to whole cut cultivated meat products that deliver superior quality and consumer appeal.”