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UPSIDE Foods, a pioneer in cultured meat, has embarked on a new series of layoffs in a bid to preserve its capital and expand its business as it expands its facility in Emeryville, California, the company confirmed.
The company, which carried out “selective task cuts” in February after suspending plans to build a full-scale plant in Chicago in favor of expanding its smaller “EPIC” site in Emeryville, did not say how many more people were laid off. outside that period. last round.
In a message to AgFunderNews sent after a large number of employees announced they were looking for new positions on LinkedIn, the company explained: “To remain agile in the face of a dubious macroeconomic environment and to have the resources necessary to achieve our goals, they have made the difficult decision to cut several positions.
“We are deeply grateful for the hard work, commitment and determination of our outgoing team members and faithful to our project of bringing cultured meat to the world. “
His comments came shortly after the startup held a “Food Freedom” pop-up event in Miami to protest a ban signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis that criminalizes the production and sale of Florida-grown meat, a move UPSIDE said “ignore the food. ” security. “limits customer selection and stifles American innovation.
DeSantis called the ban “a fight against the global elite’s plan to force the world to eat meat grown in a petri dish” and an attempt to “protect our farmers,” while lawmakers justified passing a similar bill in Alabama in October. by referring to “unspecified considerations on the process”.
A bill to ban federal investment in cultured meat in Ohio cites “undisclosed risks to the health of the human body. “The office of Rep. Warren Davidson (R-OH), who introduced the bill, did not respond to our questions about having proof of this claim.
Despite the reluctance of state lawmakers and the deteriorating investment environment, UPSIDE Foods founder and CEO Dr. Uma Valeti says he is convinced that cultured meat is “not an idealistic fantasy. “
In a June 24 TED statement, Dr. Valeti reminded listeners that the cultured meat industry didn’t even exist a decade ago and has already been licensed in several countries. “Never in history has a concept of such magnitude gone from concept to point. such a point of interest in less than a decade.
“Several countries are giving regulatory approvals: the United States, Singapore, Israel and soon Australia. We have implemented $3 billion. South Korea has just created a flexible economic zone to inspire the commercialization of cultured meat, and China added it to its five-year plan.
He added: “Several studies show that beef grown on a large scale [a term he did not define] using renewable energy, produces 90% fewer greenhouse fuel emissions, 90% less land use and less pollution. It is also blank in the absence of animal waste or in the desire to use antibiotics that increase the threat of infections, either E. coli or Salmonella. We can have blank production conditions.
UPSIDE Foods, which has raised $608 million since 2015, has stated that all of its cut generation (for which it has regulatory approval in the U. S. ) will be able to produce a new amount of food for the future. USA) it’s not yet in prime-time condition, and he told AgFunderNews last June that his poultry offerings are still made in 2-liter U. S. bottles.
However, in February 2024, the company made more positive comments about the functionality of its hybrid approach, in which it grows suspended cells in 2,000-liter bioreactors and then combines them with plant-based meat to create processed products such as nuggets and burgers.
As part of the expansion of its EPIC facility in Emeryville, the company said, UPSIDE will “add larger producers that will demonstrate our ability to take our process to increasingly large and effective scales while maintaining the taste, quality and safety we have. “. we have made to achieve consistent effects on the 2,000 liter scale.
When asked this week, a spokesperson said the company had no further information to share about the regulatory timeline and that it would verify the main points of the EPIC expansion “at a later date. “
Meanwhile, GOOD Meat, the only other player to have won regulatory approval to sell cultured meat in the U. S. , has been released from the U. S. In the U. S. , “it’s not looking to raise money for a large-scale grown meat plant right now” and is focusing on procedure progression and new cells. The lines that founder Josh Tetrick creates will allow for more efficient large-scale production.
However, Believer Meats, which is building what it claims is “the world’s largest cultured meat production facility” in North Carolina, said it expects the facility to be “operational through the end of 2024” in a statement issued in late May. , has not yet received regulatory approvals to sell U. S. -grown meat products.