Mosa Meat gets €5m follow-on investment from Bell Food

  • 9 July 2020
The new capital accelerates Mosa Meat’s plan to bring cultivated beef to market in 2022
Mark Post, Mosa Meat founder and chief scientific officer

Mosa Meat, the Dutch cell-based meat start-up, has announced that Bell Food Group has expanded its stake in the company by investing a further €5 million.

“Their continued support is instrumental as we work towards being the first company to bring cultivated meat to market in Europe,” said Mosa Meat in a statement.

A meat and convenience food processor, Bell Food is part of Coop, one of Switzerland’s largest retail and wholesale companies. The business’ product range includes meat, poultry, charcuterie, seafood and convenience products.

“We are very excited and grateful to have the support of such an acknowledged and influential industry leader,” said Mosa Meat chief executive Maarten Bosch. “Having Bell Food Group as our partner gives us confidence that we can achieve our plan to bring cultivated beef to market in 2022.”

The fresh capital will contribute to the construction of Mosa Meat’s first pilot production facility, and advance the development and scaling of proprietary technology. 

Commercialisation schedule

The Dutch start-up has been working to obtain European regulatory approval for its cell-based beef by 2022, and be the first company to enter the European market with a cultivated meat product.

Bell Food Group, Mosa Meat revealed, aims to play a leading role in the market for alternatives to meat, and recognises the huge potential for cultivated meat, which is projected to reach a market share of 10% by 2030.

Bell Food said that, according to a number of studies, global meat consumption will rise significantly by around 3% per year up to 2030.

“Current production methods will no longer be able to sustainably meet this increase in demand,” Bell Food said.

“Analysts say that cultured meat may achieve a market share of 10% by 2030. With the investment in Mosa Meat, the Bell Food Group wants to support the long-term development of new production methods that offer a possible alternative to consumers who are re-evaluating their consumption of meat for ethical reasons,” read the statement.

In 2018, Bell Food Group invested €2 million in Mosa Meat. The further investment comes after the completion of all the planned scientific milestones to take the next step of scaling up production.