Foodtech co. makes strides toward cultivated meat commercialization through partnership with European grocery, foodservice, and manufacturing giant to produce and sell cultivated meat products
TEL AVIV, Israel, July 26, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- SuperMeat, a foodtech company working to supply the world with high-quality cultivated meat, announced that they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Switzerland's largest retail supermarket chain and leading meat manufacturer, Migros, to expedite production and distribution of cultivated meat at a commercial scale. As part of the partnership, Migros invested in SuperMeat, indicating that the industry sees a strong interest among consumers in alternative proteins.
Working together, the two hope to solidify an infrastructure to distribute and sell meat on a wide scale to meet the demand of the European consumer looking for more efficient and sustainable alternative products. With Migros' direct consumer relationships, the companies will be better positioned to serve customers and provide product assortments that better match consumer needs.
"We are thrilled to be working with a prominent foodservice partner like Migros as we move toward our joint vision of producing cultivated meat on a mass scale," said Ido Savir, CEO SuperMeat. "Their expertise and reach in food production and grocery paired with SuperMeat's advancements in the industry will set the stage to bring cultivated meat to European consumers in the near future."
Migros believes in supporting a future of alternative proteins in many forms. In addition to the work with SuperMeat, Migros recently partnered with Swiss companies Givaudan and Bühler to establish The Cultured Food Innovation Hub, with the goal of building a pilot plant to further research and grow cultivated meat.
"As consumers demand more sustainable, healthier, and alternative protein products, Migros wants to ensure it is prepared to meet the needs of this growing customer base when the time comes," said Matthew Robin, CEO ELSA-Mifroma, a Migros Group company. "Having the opportunity to taste SuperMeat's cultivated chicken personally at their restaurant in Israel, I was very impressed with how similar this was to traditional chicken, confirming my conviction of the potential for this technology to change the meat industry."
The announcement is part of several vital steps SuperMeat is taking to move forward the commercialization of cultivated meat, including the development of the first open-source system aimed at identifying the most cost-effective cell feed, reducing production costs for the industry. Last year, SuperMeat also signed a memorandum of understanding with PHW Group, one of Europe's largest poultry producers and the only company from the meat industry to rank among the 50 Sustainability & Climate Leaders, to manufacture and distribute cultivated meat at a large scale for European consumers.
With annual sales of CHF 28.93 billion in 2021, the Migros Group is both the largest retail company in Switzerland and with over 97'541 employees the largest private employer as well. The owners of Migros are its more than two million cooperative members, organized into ten regional cooperatives. These members run the Migros Group's core business, its retail sales. Over 50 percent of the products offered in the Migros stores are own brands, a large number of which are manufactured by its own industrial group. The Migros Group also owns other commercial enterprises such as the Denner discount chain or the online store Digitec Galaxus, as well as the travel company Hotelplan and Migros Bank.
Migros was founded in 1925 by Gottlieb Duttweiler. The founder himself attached great importance to sustainable value creation, with ethical considerations and the assumption of social responsibilities playing a major role in his business philosophy. For example, one of the stipulations in his philosophy was that a fixed percentage of the Migros cooperatives' annual revenues should be used for cultural and social activities. And with CHF 160 million contributed each year, Migros is the largest private promoter of cultural activities in Switzerland. For more information on the company, visit www.migros.ch
SuperMeat, headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel, is a food-tech company working to supply the world with high-quality meat grown directly from animal cells. The company's products offer a delicious meat experience and a high-quality nutritional profile, while being manufactured in a sustainable, slaughter-free way. SuperMeat's proprietary cultivated meat platform allows food companies to be at the forefront of the emerging cultivated meat industry and manufacture a wide range of products containing cultivated meat inside. SuperMeat is the first B2B company to address the entire category of poultry meat from fat to muscle, providing a complete solution to cultivated meat production. The company has been showcasing the versatility of its meat platform in various events at its pilot production plant, The Chicken, the world's first farm-to-fork facility for local meat production, and is planning to host additional events in the near future. For more information on the company, visit www.SuperMeat.com.
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