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Yesterday, CFIN premiered its latestvirtual experience -- s: Canada's Big Biomanufacturing Opportunity. The experience was . Many Canadian cellular food companies were featured in the experience and explained the potential of this emerging technology to change how we produce, purchase and consume food.
Here are the top five takeaways from the experience:
1. Cellular food techniques such as precision fermentation have been used for decades.
Vegetable rennet created through precision fermentation has been used in cheesemaking since the 1990s. Cellular agriculture is a new tool to ensure there is enough protein to feed the world, as well as in-demand products with limited supply, such as coffee, vanilla and chocolate. It won’t necessarily replace traditional agriculture and food processing; it will supplement it.
2. cost of cellular food technology has decreased significantly in the past 10 years.
The first hamburger created through cellular food processes in 2013 cost more than $300,000. Today that same hamburger costs approximately $10 to create in the lab. The cost of producing cellular food will continue to decrease as new processes, technology, growth mediums, and companies enter the space and create a localized, sustainable supply chain.
3. Harvesting cells from an animal through a biopsy doesn’t harm the animal.
Cells can then be modified to create immortalized cells that multiply indefinitely, meaning no more animal samples are required. Other animal products, like leather and silk, can also be created through the cellular process. Lab-grown products taste identical to the original animal product and have the same nutrition profile.
4. Canada is poised to become a global leader in cellular food.
Canada currently exports many of its raw materials for processing elsewhere. Using cellular techniques means that more raw materials would stay in Canada for local processing, while helping the food industry lower its greenhouse gas emissions and its environmental and carbon footprint. Having a made-in-Canada solution for food processing would also help mitigate food scarcity and inflation, and boost supply chain resilience.
5. There are already several Canadian companies innovating to develop cellular food products, including protein and value-added ingredients such as fat and glutamates. Canada has a natural advantage in this field as we have a plentiful supply of biomass (organic material from plants and animals), technical knowledge, foodtech resources, a stable market, and a strong regulatory system. Here’s more about the companies featured in Cutivating Success:
Ardra Inc. - Ardra produces sustainable, natural ingredients through precision fermentation. Ardra is now developing a process for the fermentation-based production of heme as a natural flavour ingredient.
Evolved Meats - Evolved Meats is a cultivated meat company based in Kitchener, ON. The company is creating cultivated pork belly that will be identical to conventional pork belly.
Liven Proteins – Liven Proteins Corp. makes animal-free, functional and sustainable protein ingredients. The company is currently optimizing its bioprocess for upcycling starch streams and to test additional side streams in the food industry as a starting material to build a fermentation platform for animal-free protein manufacturing.
YEX Serums – YEX Serums is a biotechnology research company developing media and nutrients for cellular culture growth.