Chick Bites, said to be the first pet food containing cultivated meat to appear on the market, went on sale in the U.K. in early February. As its name would suggest, the cultivated meat in question is cultivated chicken.
The product was developed through a collaboration between cultivated meat concern Meatly and vegan pet food company THE PACK.
Times change
For those of us with longish memories, only 12 years have passed since the first burger made from laboratory-grown meat was presented to the world – at a cost of GBP215,000 (US% 272,235). A pouch of Chick Bites retails for only GBP3.50!
Chik Bites, combines Meatly Chicken with plant-based ingredients and is being retailed in a limited release through the U.K.’s largest pet product retailer Pets at Home through its Brentford, London, store.
While availability may currently be limited, Meatly, the first company to sell cultivated meat in the E.U. and the U.K., says that it plans to raise additional funds to expand production to make Meatly Chicken more broadly available over the next 3-5 years, with further collaboration planned with THE PACK and Pets at home.
Commenting on the launch, Anja Madsen, Pets at Home chief operating officer said that the company was always looking to the future of pet care, ensuring that it was developing and providing the products that mattered to Pets at Home customers. She added that the innovation had the potential to significantly reduce the environmental impact of petfood and that the product would be a game changer for the industry.
Sign of what’s to come?
Perhaps a slightly more concerning tone was struck by Damien Clarkson, CEO and Co-Founder of THE PACK, who said that cultivated meat offered a tasty, low-carbon and healthy protein source, with the potential to eliminate farmed animals from the pet food industry!
Meatly gained U.K. regulatory approval to sell its cultivated meat for pet food last year but are it and its partners heading in the right direction? Are vegan or cell-based pet foods what pet owners really want? They may well be.
According to Dr. Andrew Knight, Adjunct Professor of Veterinary Welfare at Australia’s Murdoch University, consumers are increasingly conscious of the livestock sector’s impact and animal welfare. He notes that two large surveys have found that 35-46% pf pet guardians would be willing to consider alternative ingredients in pet food, including cell-based ingredients, and that these are expected to grow in future years.
