July 2023 was a landmark moment for the cultivated meat industry. For the first time, meat brewed directly from chicken cells went on sale in two US restaurants after a pair of California startups got a green light from the US Department of Agriculture. The US had joined Singapore as the only places where the public could buy it.
Now cultivated meat is no longer available in any restaurants in the US, Singapore, or anywhere else. The small handful of restaurants that sold cultivated meat have paused or stopped sales, while the two startups cleared to sell it in those two countries are considering their next moves.
The goal of these early cultivated meat sales was likely to generate buzz, gauge public reaction, and raise awareness of the industry, says Steve Molino, an investor at Clear Current Capital, a plant-based and cultivated meat venture capital firm.
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Although cultivated meat is no longer on sale in the US and Singapore, both Eat Just and Upside Foods told WIRED that they planned to relaunch sales in 2024. And last month, Israel-based Aleph Farms received regulatory approval from the Israeli Ministry of Health for its cultivated beef product: a mix of beef cells and plant protein. The company still requires an inspection of its pilot production facility in Rehovot and directions on labeling and marketing from Israeli regulators before it can sell its product in Israel.
