Nutreco has completed construction on the world’s first dedicated food-grade powder production facility for cell feed in Boxmeer, The Netherlands, and brought it up to commercial operation. This facility produces the first cell feed product developed specifically for the cell-cultured meat industry.
This development is one way in which Nutreco is working toward its purpose of Feeding the Future. To feed the global population in 2050, we need to produce more food than we do today – a momentous challenge for the industry and the world.
Nutreco is committed to playing a key role in the development of new solutions and has taken the next step on its innovation journey with this new facility. This new food-certified production facility is a first for the industry and a first for Nutreco.
The team at the facility has successfully produced the first commercial batch of 50 kilograms of cell feed, with plans to produce several hundred kilograms per week, further growing in pace with the cellular agriculture industry. While this is a small portion of the total 9 billion kilograms of products Nutreco produces each year, there is great potential to scale further at attractive margins and contribute to the growth of this fledgling industry.
“The cell-cultured protein industry is in its development stage, and one of its biggest challenges is how to feed protein cells cost-efficiently, sustainably and at scale. We see potential for this industry to be one solution to the challenge of feeding the rising global population and are committed to helping the industry grow by becoming a supplier and a solutions provider,” said Susanne Wiegel, head of Nutreco’s alternative protein program.
“We must continue to drive productivity and reduce the environmental footprints in the animal protein value chain, and produce protein from more and more varied sources – animals as well as alternative sources of protein such as plant-based protein, meat or seafood developed from animal cells and protein produced through fermentation,” said Nutreco CEO David Blakemore. “Our investments and innovation in the cell-cultured protein industry are just one way we’re tackling the challenge.”
