RCS - Agronomics Limited - Cultivated Meat Approved for Sale in the US

AgronomicsAnnouncement

22/06/2023 13:15

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RNS Number : 6314D  Agronomics Limited  22 June 2023

22 June 2023

Agronomics (https://agronomics.im/) (https://agronomics.im/) L
(https://agronomics.im/) imited (https://agronomics.im/)

("Agronomics" or the "Company")

Cultivated Meat Approved for Sale in the US

Agronomics (LON: ANIC), the leading listed company in cellular agriculture, is
pleased to announce that cultivated meat has now been approved for sale in the
US. Two cultivated meat companies, UPSIDE Foods,  Inc. ("UPSIDE Foods") and
Eat Just, Inc. ("Eat Just"), have both achieved all three regulatory
milestones and been granted approval from the joint United States Department
of Agriculture ("USDA") and Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") framework to
sell their cell-cultivated chicken to US consumers.

UPSIDE Foods received a Grant of Inspection from the USDA, which means that
the company has met the applicable federal requirements and standards to
operate as a meat establishment and is now allowed to process, package, and
sell its cultivated chicken in the United States under the inspection of
USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service.

This confirmation was the final hurdle in a three-step regulatory process that
the company was required to meet in order to be granted approval. In November
2022, UPSIDE Foods received a 'No Questions' letter from the FDA, accepting
their conclusion that their cultivated chicken is safe to eat. Earlier this
month, the USDA granted UPSIDE Foods Label Approval, enabling the company to
label its cell-cultivated chicken products as safe to eat in the US.

Now that UPSIDE Foods has received approval, it can begin commercial
production and the process of scaling its own facilities and supply chain
agreements with commercial partnerships to provide its products to the US
market. UPSIDE Foods plans to produce up to 50,000 pounds of cultivated meat
initially across its portfolio of products, with a projected expansion
capacity of up to 400,000 pounds. In addition, work has already begun on a
larger space with a planned annual capacity of millions of pounds of
cultivated meat products.

Meanwhile, GOOD Meat, the cultivated meat brand of Eat Just, which went
through the same rigorous process as UPSIDE Foods, received a Grant of
Inspection for its demonstration plant in Alameda, California. The company,
which already sells its products in Singapore, will begin producing cultivated
chicken for the celebrated restaurant group José Andrés Group, which
operates more than 30 restaurants across the country. A yet-to-be-disclosed
restaurant in Washington, D.C. will be the first in the country to serve Eat
Just's cultivated chicken.

Agronomics is confident that this landmark announcement will pave the way for
government approval for other producers of cultivated meat and proteins in the
US, increasing the variety of products that will be available to US consumers
in the coming years. The cultivated meat sector is one of the fastest growing
markets, increasing at a CAGR of 410% to 2030. It is projected that by 2040,
cultivated meat could account for 35% of the global meat market, according to
AT Kearney, the global consultancy firm.

Jim Mellon, Co-Founder and Executive Director of Agronomics commented:

"This announcement marks a monumental milestone in the development of the
cultivated meat industry. The US government approval provides access to both
UPSIDE Foods' and Eat Just's sustainable and ethical meat products in a
country that is one of the world's biggest meat consumers.

"US regulations for food safety are some of the most stringent in the world.
Today's approval will provide the framework for other jurisdictions across the
globe to approve the sale of cellular food products. This decision has the
potential to rapidly accelerate the development of the cultivated meat market
in America and beyond."

About Agronomics (https://agronomics.im/)

Agronomics is a leading listed alternative proteins company with a focus on
cellular agriculture including precision fermentation and cultivated meat. The
Company has established a portfolio of over 20 companies in this rapidly
advancing sector. It seeks to secure minority stakes in companies owning
technologies with defensible intellectual property that offer new ways of
producing food and materials with a focus on products historically derived
from animals. These technologies are driving a major disruption in
agriculture, offering solutions to improve sustainability, as well as
addressing human health, animal welfare and environmental damage. This
disruption will decouple supply chains from the environment and animals, as
well as being fundamental to feeding the world's expanding population. A full
list of Agronomics' portfolio companies is available at https://agronomics.im/
(https://clicktime.symantec.com/368cVqxx3R6vTFuHpf6MSE66Gi?u=https%3A%2F%2Fagronomics.im%2F)
.

About Cellular Agriculture

Cellular Agriculture is the production of agriculture products directly from
cells, as opposed to raising an animal for slaughter, or growing crops. This
encompasses cell culture to produce cultivated meat and materials, and
fermentation processes that harness a combination of molecular biology,
synthetic biology, tissue engineering and biotechnology to massively simplify
production methods in a sustainable manner.

Over the coming decades, the source of the world's food supply traditionally
derived from conventional agriculture is going to change dramatically. We have
already witnessed the first wave of this shift with the consumer adoption of
plant-based alternative proteins but today, we are on the cusp of an even
bigger wave of change. This is being facilitated by advances in cellular
agriculture. This change is necessary, given scientists claims that if we
maintain existing animal protein consumption patterns, then we will not meet
the Paris Agreement's goal of limiting warming to 1.5℃.

 AT Kearney, a global consultancy firm, projects that cultivated meat's
market share will reach 35% by 2040. This combined with the Good Food
Institute's estimate that a US$ 1.8 trillion investment will be required in
order to produce just 10% of the world's protein using this technology, means
that we are on the cusp of a multi-decade flow of capital to build out
manufacturing facilities. Funding in the field of cellular agriculture is
accelerating, however still less than US$ 5 billion has been invested
worldwide since the industry's inception in 2016.

For further information please contact:

 Agronomics                                       Beaumont              Canaccord Genuity Limited        Cenkos                Peterhouse Capital    SEC Newgate

 Limited                                          Cornish Limited                                        Securities Plc        Limited
 The Company                                      Nomad                 Joint Broker                     Joint Broker          Joint Broker          Public Relations
 Richard Reed                                     Roland Cornish        Andrew Potts                     Giles Balleny         Lucy Williams         Bob Huxford

Anthony Hughes
 Denham Eke                                       James Biddle          Harry Rees                       Michael Johnson       Charles Goodfellow

                                                                        Alex Aylen (Head of Equities)
 +44 (0) 1624 639396                              +44 (0) 207 628 3396  +44 (0) 207 523 8000             +44 (0) 207 397 8900  +44 (0) 207 469 0936  agronomics@secnewgate.co.uk

 info@agronomics.im (mailto:info@agronomics.im)

 

 

 

 

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