RetailDetail reports that Mosa Meat has opened a new factory for large-scale production of cultured meat burgers. However, European approval for the commercialization of cell-based meat is still awaited.

Hundreds of thousands of cultured meat burgers per year

In Maastricht, Mosa Meat opened a new 2760 m² production facility on Monday for the production of beef burgers made from cultured meat. With this large-scale factory alongside the existing pilot factories, the company now has a total production space of 7,340 m². The producer claims that they can produce hundreds of thousands of cultured meat burgers annually.

Initially, these burgers will be sold in Singapore through a local contract manufacturer. After all, the commercialization of cultured meat burgers is not yet possible in Europe for the time being.

Although many startups are active in the development of cultured meat, none have yet applied for approval from the European Food Safety Authority. Mosa Meat suggests that they are now close to doing so. Such an approval procedure would take at least nine months.

A sustainable product

Mosa Meat presented the first cultured meat burger as early as 2013. After a development period of up to a decade, production is now ready to expand.

Cultured meat is sustainable: compared to traditional cattle farming, its production would emit 80% to 90% fewer greenhouse gases, use 45% less energy, 90% less water, and require 99% less land. Moreover, no animal needs to be killed for it. However, many barriers still hinder a true breakthrough.

The production cost, for instance, is still very high, although economies of scale will soon remedy this. Nevertheless, this requires significant investments, and there remains the risk that authorities may not approve the commercialization of "in vitro" meat or only do so after lengthy procedures.