Susan Jebb is the key here. I have read the Food Standards minutes and her scientific demolition of the anti precision fermentation submissions made to the committee was refreshingly something I didn't actually expect. However, their idea of fast track, whilst blistering compared with the EU, could easily be halved. At the end of the day they could cut and paste Singaporean well drafted and safety conscious regulations and have done with it and use that to direct investment to the UK before anyone else gets it. |
A very encouraging report on the BBC and potentially excellent news for the UK sector. |
hTTps://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c2ern1zjkvyo |
well done lads.... |
Prof Susan Jebb (sp.) of UK gov. on radio 5 (bbc) this morning announcing fast track of knowledge sharing around lab meat.On the share price, I'm quite happy with a bit of radio silence. Having being dropped by an institutional funder and so far progress being the only story I'd rather we kept the discount alive. |
Bigger news than a bit of pet food getting some airplay at last. With Tropic ANIC only a small slice but a huge market with IP protection. If their rice patent is also commercially realised this will be worth serious money with very little further capex.Let alone the benefit this provides the poorer nations responsible for much of the global supply.https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/mar/07/gene-edited-non-browning-banana-cut-food-waste-tropic-norwich |
Bought a few more on the dip |
Oh an by the way @smithie6. I just checked. I pay €26 for 2kg bags of premium kibble - 86% protein, because I love my dog and want to feed her quality food. |
@smithie6
Calm down. I was quoting the Chief Scientific Officer at Meatly. If you have a beef, take it up with him. |
"Competing with premium pet food £10 per kg"
are you joking ?
in some EU countries that is the price for fresh salmon at the supermarket if you buy 1/2 a fish.
£10/kg for premium dog food
get real, no one feeds pure salmon to their dog !!
almost everyone gives dry food to their dog. I don't believe it costs anywhere near £10/kg, even for the best stuff. |
 My conviction about my investment in ANIC almost always strengthens whenever I learn more about the portfolio companies. I urge everyone to take the time to listen to this fantastic interview with Helder Cruz. Here are my notes:
"How were you able to get it so cheap?
Not competing with low-end £1 per kg. Competing with premium pet food £10 per kg. Cost has been a top priority from the beginning, without compromising on quality or safety.
Secret to lowering cost?
Cultured medium in animal cell tech is rich and expensive. Several hundred £ per litre. In two and a half years they reduced costs 3000x. How? 50 components, some very expensive. Replaced 5-7 very expensive compounds. Into more affordable food-safe compounds. Not easy. Replaced different functions that expensive compounds had. From £700 to 22p per litre. Didn't even start to exploit economies of scale. When move from kilograms to tonnes, they will generate another 20X reduction. End with 1.0p-1.5p per litre. This is the biggest cost issue and he thinks they've solved it. Unique for animal cells. Helger Cruz has never seen anything this cheap in his 30-year experience. He thinks they are leading the industry. Facility depreciation is the other major cost pillar. Developing their own in-house bioreactor at a fraction of the cost of a biopharma bioreactor (200-300 litre = £250k). Prototype is already a pilot , so 200-250 litre capacity. Aim is to build a bioreactor 10X-20X cheaper than biopharma. All this will mean they hope can price parity in 12 months, and they won't stop there, 2 or 3 years more they can go as low as £1 per kg or lower. Talking here about opex, so there will be room for depreciation and SG&A.
When does he expect to be profitable?
When they build the 20,000-litre bioreactor, they'll have a full production line. With one production line he thinks they will be profitable. Expects them to reach £1 per litre (some of their studies suggest 70p). Within the next 5 years. Just a question of time, doesn't depend on the technology.
About product:
Producing chicken biomass. Amino acid profile is very similar to profile of chicken breast. By choosing pet foods, don't need to differentiate into muscle tissue. Hybrid product, majority of product coming from plants, 20%-30% from cultivated meat.
Scaling. Animal cells more fragile than yeast or bacteria (precision fermentation) so more challenging.
Will build a pilot facility later this year. Will go industrial in the next 2-3 years (1 tonne per day of productions).
Funding for the industry is difficult, but he feels their position as lowest cost provider means it should be less difficult.
Big challenges going forward?
Scaling to very high volumes 20,000 litres. Continue reducing costs (he's confident about this). Feels their estimates are actually conservative. Market acceptance a concern, but if they have the right products with the right safety and cost, he thinks this will happen." |
? Any link beyond the acronym? |
Company executives are always optimistic, by definition. If they didn't think they had a viable business model, they'd go and do something else. That said, and I'm speaking as someone with zero real-world understanding of this industry, Helder Cruz made a very favourable impression on me, both in terms of his technical knowledge and the combination of his conviction and modesty. He's clearly making projections about future cost declines based on past data, and the key point for me is that they've achieved massive cost reductions (3000X) WITHOUT scaling production. So, if they can raise the capital needed to do that, then I believe they'll hit their cost target. |
If Mellon had put out the Solar grant RNS when it happened 5 days ago there would have been a step up in share price before the current pullback. It has happened numerous times, absolutely no sense of timing the opportunity by the asleep at the wheel management company. |
You won't be surprised to hear I don't believe their numbers Chris. Last time I looked they were around 200 USD per kg with very generous terms for payback of capital costs thrown in. They would need a multiple improvement in recovery percentage, cycle time and a further halving of medium cost IMO. Maybe they are there in the lab now, but then they could have produced more for the promotion if that was the case. |
Interview with Meatly. Looks like they are about to be the first to crack cost parity. And this will be acheived spending under £10m. Whilst they are my favourite in the ANIC portfolio, it will be a hugely positive moment for the industryhttps://rss.com/podcasts/alexcrisp-futureoffood/1923510/ |
Oh ye of little faith! |
Gets a grant and tanks
Should have sold when I was 98% up a few days ago lol
Twas ever thus… |
Well I suppose it had to turn red at some point. A bit of a pittance but you have start somewhere. Gov. puts in £110m to agri tech innovation.https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-announces-raft-of-new-policies-and-major-investment-to-boost-profits-for-farmers |
Friday afternoon ... likely that a few sells before the shutters come down for the end of the week and weekend ahead.
f |
Impressive volume. |
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