Ivy Farm unveils the largest cultivated meat pilot plant in Europe

August 31, 2022 Editor

Ivy Farm building with solar panels.
Image: Ivy Farm

Ivy Farm has officially opened its new state-of-the-art cultivated meat pilot production plant in the UK, as it seeks to scale and develop its cultivated meat products.

The new 18,000 sq. ft. facility is fitted with a pilot manufacturing plant and is located close to the Oxford University Engineering Department where the company was initially spun-out. The facility hosts a terminal 600L bioreactor that will enable the production of over 6,000 lbs (2.8 tonnes) of cultivated meat per year and more importantly provides a platform for the company to fine-tune the novel manufacturing process.

The opening of the pilot plant is the next phase in the advancement of Ivy Farm’s technology as it looks to boost its R&D capabilities, with the aim of reducing costs, scaling up production and making cultivated meat accessible to consumers on a global scale in the near future.

As part of the expansion, Ivy Farm has also completed the construction of its new offices, which can accommodate its 50-strong and expanding team of experts, while a new innovation kitchen will enable Ivy Farm’s team of in-house food scientists and development chefs to cook and experiment with the company’s mincemeat products. Other key features of the new plant have been designed with sustainability and self-sufficiency in mind, including recyclable materials including the building’s cladding, solar panel arrays with the aim of generating a large proportion of energy used by the plant on site, EV chargers for staff vehicles, as well as other smart energy efficiency features.

Ivy Farm is a food-tech start-up on a mission to create the best guilt-free, real meat, to tackle one of the world’s biggest climate polluters – industrial agriculture – and to help the world reach its net zero goals. Ivy Farm grows pork stem cells in large fermentation tanks to produce real meat that has a healthier nutritional profile and a more sustainable greenhouse gas footprint. It has raised over $30m to date.

Commenting on the new site, Ivy Farm CEO Rich Dillon said, “Making real meat in a new and more sustainable way has never been done at real scale and so the completion of the pilot plant, R&D facility, new office and innovation kitchen represents a really exciting milestone on our growth journey as a company. By building Europe’s largest pilot plant and by expanding our R&D facilities, we have taken a huge step towards our mission of producing guilt-free, real meat that’s good for the planet, people and animals.”

The opportunity for Ivy Farm and the wider industry to drive planetary change through this sustainable meat mission is huge. According to a report by CE Delft, cultivated meat would reduce carbon emissions by up to 92% and reduce land use by as much as 95% when compared to traditional agricultural methods. A recent report by Oxford Economics also projects that the industry could add £2.1 billion to the UK economy and create more than 16,500 jobs, including 8,300 skilled roles, by 2030.