The cultured meat market is growing rapidly year by year. Starting with Dutch company Mosa Meat’s development of a hamburger patty in 2013, cultured pork, chicken, fish, and even lamb are now being developed. Consequently, the cultured meat market is expected to grow enormously in the future. According to the global consulting firm AT Kearney, the market will reach 450 billion USD by 2040, accounting for 35% of the total meat market. Reflecting this projection, while a single hamburger cost 330,000 USD to make in 2013, beef now approaches about 2 USD per 100g, securing economic viability. Prices are expected to decline further, and cultured meat is forecast to encroach upon the traditional meat market.
[Fig] The First Cultured Meat by Mosa Meat and Market Outlook for Cultured Meat
The most notable technologies in cultured meat are serum-free culture media and the formation of marbling (fat cells) using stem cells. In the case of culture media, existing technology uses fetal bovine serum (FBS). However, the use of serum depends on dairy supply and incurs high costs (about 150 million KRW per liter), which hampers the economic production of cultured meat, as well as raising ethical issues. For these reasons, the development of serum-free culture media that do not rely on FBS has recently been active. In addition, stem cell–based marbling formation technology cultivates stem cells into fat cells, but it is difficult to implement because stem cell growth is unpredictable. Recently, companies have been bypassing this challenge by injecting fat instead of cultivating fat cells.
[Fig] Problems Associated with Using Fetal Bovine Serum
Seafood cultured meat startup Cellqua Co., Ltd. (CEOs: Sangyoon Lee, Sangyup Lee) was selected for TIPS (worth about 700 million KRW). Cellqua develops and mass-produces seafood cultured meat based on marine animal cell culture technology, aiming for commercialization with TIPS support. Currently, Cellqua has developed a prototype cell culture kit that standardizes the marine animal cell culture process and is conducting demonstrations at universities and research institutions. Going forward, Cellqua is expected to enter the seafood cultured meat market.
[Fig] Cellqua Co., Ltd.’s Cell Culture Kit and Seafood Cultured Meat Prototype
Domestic cultured meat companies are also actively developing technologies. CellMEAT Co., Ltd. (CEO Giljun Park) has developed its own serum-free cell culture medium. Using this proprietary serum-free culture medium, CellMEAT successfully produced Dokdo shrimp. In the future, it plans to introduce high-value species such as king crab, which cannot be farmed. In addition, it has developed mass-production technology for cultured meat using a hydrogel scaffold with cellulose technology. Recognized for these technologies, CellMEAT successfully raised 17.4 billion KRW (Series A) in 2023. Based on this investment, it is developing a Seoul center for large-scale production to play a leading role in the domestic cultured meat market. Through this, it plans to increase daily production from 5 kg to 10 kg and reduce the price of cultured meat to less than 20 USD per kg.
[Fig] CellMEAT Co., Ltd.’s Seafood Alternative Meat, Dokdo Shrimp
In addition, domestic company Mycel Co., Ltd. (CEO Seongjin Sa) is pioneering the alternative leather market using cultured meat. Mycel develops alternative leather and meat using mushrooms and fungal strains. In particular, it possesses a technology that stabilizes the culture environment by injecting a mixed gas containing oxygen into the culture unit. Recognized for this technology, it successfully raised 14.7 billion KRW (Pre-A) in 2022. Based on this investment, Mycel plans to produce up to 300 square meters of alternative leather per day and supply it to fashion brands. Moreover, domestic company Cweed Co., Ltd. is also actively developing technology. Cweed holds core technology for producing algae-based cultured meat. By using a seaweed-based three-dimensional cell culture scaffold and serum-free medium, it is developing technology to dramatically lower costs and grow cells into steak-like tissue. Cweed has signed a business agreement with Esco Aster, a Singapore-based CDMO specializing in pharmaceuticals, to enter the global cultured meat market. As such, domestic companies are very active in developing cultured meat technology.
[Fig] Mycel Co., Ltd.’s Cultured Alternative Proteins and the Alternative Leather Made from Them
The government plans to nurture 30 “Food-Tech Unicorns” by 2027 and create a 100 billion KRW dedicated Food-Tech fund. This will support fusion technologies such as cultured meat and food printing, which combine Food and Technology. Considering Korea’s low self-sufficiency rate for agricultural products, such policy support is expected to be even more proactive.
#CulturedMeat #CellCulturedMeat #SeafoodCulturedMeat #AlternativeMeat #ArtificialMeat
The cultured meat market is growing rapidly year by year. Starting with Dutch company Mosa Meat’s development of a hamburger patty in 2013, cultured pork, chicken, fish, and even lamb are now being developed. Consequently, the cultured meat market is expected to grow enormously in the future. According to the global consulting firm AT Kearney, the market will reach 450 billion USD by 2040, accounting for 35% of the total meat market. Reflecting this projection, while a single hamburger cost 330,000 USD to make in 2013, beef now approaches about 2 USD per 100g, securing economic viability. Prices are expected to decline further, and cultured meat is forecast to encroach upon the traditional meat market.
[Fig] The First Cultured Meat by Mosa Meat and Market Outlook for Cultured Meat
The most notable technologies in cultured meat are serum-free culture media and the formation of marbling (fat cells) using stem cells. In the case of culture media, existing technology uses fetal bovine serum (FBS). However, the use of serum depends on dairy supply and incurs high costs (about 150 million KRW per liter), which hampers the economic production of cultured meat, as well as raising ethical issues. For these reasons, the development of serum-free culture media that do not rely on FBS has recently been active. In addition, stem cell–based marbling formation technology cultivates stem cells into fat cells, but it is difficult to implement because stem cell growth is unpredictable. Recently, companies have been bypassing this challenge by injecting fat instead of cultivating fat cells.
[Fig] Problems Associated with Using Fetal Bovine Serum
Seafood cultured meat startup Cellqua Co., Ltd. (CEOs: Sangyoon Lee, Sangyup Lee) was selected for TIPS (worth about 700 million KRW). Cellqua develops and mass-produces seafood cultured meat based on marine animal cell culture technology, aiming for commercialization with TIPS support. Currently, Cellqua has developed a prototype cell culture kit that standardizes the marine animal cell culture process and is conducting demonstrations at universities and research institutions. Going forward, Cellqua is expected to enter the seafood cultured meat market.
[Fig] Cellqua Co., Ltd.’s Cell Culture Kit and Seafood Cultured Meat Prototype
Domestic cultured meat companies are also actively developing technologies. CellMEAT Co., Ltd. (CEO Giljun Park) has developed its own serum-free cell culture medium. Using this proprietary serum-free culture medium, CellMEAT successfully produced Dokdo shrimp. In the future, it plans to introduce high-value species such as king crab, which cannot be farmed. In addition, it has developed mass-production technology for cultured meat using a hydrogel scaffold with cellulose technology. Recognized for these technologies, CellMEAT successfully raised 17.4 billion KRW (Series A) in 2023. Based on this investment, it is developing a Seoul center for large-scale production to play a leading role in the domestic cultured meat market. Through this, it plans to increase daily production from 5 kg to 10 kg and reduce the price of cultured meat to less than 20 USD per kg.
[Fig] CellMEAT Co., Ltd.’s Seafood Alternative Meat, Dokdo Shrimp
In addition, domestic company Mycel Co., Ltd. (CEO Seongjin Sa) is pioneering the alternative leather market using cultured meat. Mycel develops alternative leather and meat using mushrooms and fungal strains. In particular, it possesses a technology that stabilizes the culture environment by injecting a mixed gas containing oxygen into the culture unit. Recognized for this technology, it successfully raised 14.7 billion KRW (Pre-A) in 2022. Based on this investment, Mycel plans to produce up to 300 square meters of alternative leather per day and supply it to fashion brands. Moreover, domestic company Cweed Co., Ltd. is also actively developing technology. Cweed holds core technology for producing algae-based cultured meat. By using a seaweed-based three-dimensional cell culture scaffold and serum-free medium, it is developing technology to dramatically lower costs and grow cells into steak-like tissue. Cweed has signed a business agreement with Esco Aster, a Singapore-based CDMO specializing in pharmaceuticals, to enter the global cultured meat market. As such, domestic companies are very active in developing cultured meat technology.
[Fig] Mycel Co., Ltd.’s Cultured Alternative Proteins and the Alternative Leather Made from Them
The government plans to nurture 30 “Food-Tech Unicorns” by 2027 and create a 100 billion KRW dedicated Food-Tech fund. This will support fusion technologies such as cultured meat and food printing, which combine Food and Technology. Considering Korea’s low self-sufficiency rate for agricultural products, such policy support is expected to be even more proactive.
#CulturedMeat #CellCulturedMeat #SeafoodCulturedMeat #AlternativeMeat #ArtificialMeat