Cultured meat start-up, Magic Valley, has received a $100,000 government grant through the Industry Growth Program (IGP), which the company says will directly support the scaling up of its production capacity and refining processes to prepare for commercialisation.
With meat-reduction diets rising in Australia, driven by increasing awareness of the health and environmental benefits of eating less meat, alternative proteins are on the rise – including cultured and cultivated meat products. Since 2013, the industry has attracted nearly US$3 billion in private investment, and over 150 new companies have been established to develop innovative food products through cell biology and advanced biomanufacturing techniques.
Australia’s cellular agriculture sector is currently led by emerging companies, private investors and universities. The sector has seen impressive growth, with more than $180 million invested in Australian companies in 2022, a 400 per cent increase from 2021. Companies such as All G Foods, Cauldron Ferm, Change Foods, Eden Brew, Heuros, Eclipse, Magic Valley, Me& Food Tech, Nourish Ingredients, Smart MCs, and Vow are leading the charge, with more on the way.
In September, not-for-profit organisation Cellular Agriculture Australia released a report that shows Australia has the potential to become a global leader in the production of precision-fermented ingredients. However, a number of companies are facing major bottlenecks because of a severe lack of manufacturing infrastructure. With key investments, progress is slowly being made.
The Queensland government announced in October it was investing in biomanufacturer Cauldron Ferm’s precision fermentation contract manufacturing facility in Mackay, a region which also hosts the Queensland University of Technology’s (QUT) Mackay Renewable Biocommodities Pilot Plant (MRBPP), currently receiving a $3.9 million upgrade into a modern food-grade compliant facility.
With the cultivated meat industry projected to hit $945 billion AUD by 2040, the grant for Magic Valley represents a push from the federal government towards innovation in the food sector, and a shift toward more sustainable meat solutions.
Minister for Industry and Science, Ed Husic, said: “We’re backing these businesses to make the jump from start-up to fully-fledged enterprise, creating new jobs and new industries in the process.”
Leading the way
Magic Valley has already made headlines with world-first breakthroughs in cultivated meat. In 2022, it became the first company globally to produce animal component-free cultivated lamb using induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs).
Since then, it has launched its cultivated pork and beef prototypes, and moved into a pilot facility at Co-Labs in Melbourne. This helped Magic Valley scale up its bioprocess development, optimise cell growth conditions, and achieve record cell densities in bioreactors.
Now, with government backing, the company is set to accelerate production, optimise bioprocessing, and drive down costs – all key steps on the path to mass-market adoption. Magic Valley CEO, Paul Bevan, said the funding will be instrumental in taking Magic Valley to the next level.
“The grant will directly support scaling up our production capacity, including new bioprocessing equipment, optimising our animal-free media formulations, and refining our cell culture processes to further reduce costs,” said Bevan.
“This is all about accelerating our path to commercialisation and ensuring that cultivated meat becomes an affordable, mainstream option for Australian consumers.
“Additionally, we’ve been advancing our regulatory work with FSANZ to ensure we’re ready to bring our products to Australian consumers as soon as approvals are granted,” he said.
One of Australia’s other cultivated meat producers, Sydney-based Vow Group, became the third company in the world to gain approval to sell cultured meat in April 2024, and is already serving its cultured quail meat in Singapore. It initially applied for amendment to the food standards code in February 2023, to allow for consumption of its products in Australia, a change that is still under debate by FSANZ and stakeholders.
“Regulatory clarity and efficiency are crucial for Australia to keep pace with global leaders like Singapore and the US, where cultivated meat is already being sold,” said Bevan.
“The potential benefits for Australia – from enhancing food security to creating a new sustainable protein industry – are too significant to delay. We believe collaborative industry efforts alongside FSANZ will help establish Australia as a global leader in cultivated meat, and we’re excited to play our part in this future.”
The grant was provided by the federal government under its $400 million Industry Growth Program, part of the National Reconstruction Fund. The first round of recipients was announced in January, after the program had received more than 350 applicants since its launch in November 2023.
“This funding turbocharges our ability to scale. We’re not just making meat - we’re creating the future of food. And this support from the Australian Government signals that they believe in that future too,” said Bevan.
