Polish start-up LabFarm is working on laboratory sourcing of poultry meat. The pilot technology line is to be launched in 2025 and meat from the test tube will be available for purchase in three to four years.

The LabFarm team currently consists of six people and the company’s research facility is located in Warsaw. There is also a large group of trusted collaborators, coming from Polish universities or institutes. Ultimately, production will take place in Pionki, near Radom.

According to data from the international non-governmental organisation The Good Food Institute, raising cellular poultry will use 35 to 67 % less land than chicken farms do today. Currently, livestock farming occupies about 70 % of all agricultural land and about 40 % of the world’s farmland is used for feed production.

According to LabFarm’s chief operating officer, Wieslaw Macherzyński, the business reasons for transforming the sector are plentiful, and the past few years have clearly proven them. Investment in so-called ‘clean meat’ is therefore a logical consequence of the direction the market is heading. The ability to produce meat under controlled and safe conditions, with the option to quickly adjust supply to demand without huge financial losses, seems to be the future.

Cellular meat is also part of a revolution in the food sector because the growing population and increasing demand for meat in developing countries will mean that globally demand for the product will increase by 73 % by 2050. For the industry, this means that capacity will need to double.

The cell culture method means growing meat directly from cells, which are usually taken from animals through a painless biopsy. These cells are then given nutrients so that they multiply and differentiate. As they grow, they develop into muscle tissue, which is the main component of meat.

Arkadiusz Słomczyński