Swiss foodies could soon be served an experimental new delicacy: cultivated burgers.
The lab-grown cuisine is the brainchild of Dutch scaleup Mosa Meat.
Founded in 2013, the companycultivates beeffrom cells extracted from cows.
The blend is then formed into burgers that are indistinguishable from the mince on supermarket shelves.
The lucky cattle, meanwhile, amble back to the farm.
Mosacalls the productthe worlds kindest burger.
Swiss authorities are the latest target for Mosa.
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Like the EU, Switzerland requires cultivated ingredients to be submitted individually for regulatory approval.
Fat is a logical starting point.
Once approved, the fat can be mixed with plant-based ingredients into beefy products.
Maarten Bosch, Mosas CEO, told TNW that the company plans to sell burgers formed from the blend.
The scaleup is also in talks with plant-based food firms about adding cultivated fat to their products.
In 2013, the companys chief scientific officer, Mark Post, created the worlds first cultivated burger.
Three years later, Mosa Meat was founded.
Mosa is now focusing on routes to market.
Last year, the company hosted the firstpublic tastingof cultivated beef in the EU.
In January, Mosa submitted the unionssecond-everapplication to sell cultivated meat.
The first was for a lab-grown foie gras made in (where else?)
AcrossEurope, however, no cultivated meat for human consumption has been approved for sale yet.
Globally, the only countries to have given the green light are Singapore, the US, and Isreal.
Singapore became the first in 2020.
Unlike Switzerland and the EU, the country assesses full cultivated meat products for approval.
Mosas new utility, by contrast, focuses on just the fat.
The company expects the approval process to last around 18 months.
Story byThomas Macaulay
Thomas is the managing editor of TNW.
He leads our coverage of European tech and oversees our talented team of writers.
Away from work, he e(show all)Thomas is the managing editor of TNW.
He leads our coverage of European tech and oversees our talented team of writers.
Away from work, he enjoys playing chess (badly) and the guitar (even worse).
