NEW TECH FOODS

In a landmark move for the cultivated meat industry, US start-up Mission Barns has become the first company globally to receive full regulatory approval to produce and sell cultivated pork and fat for both retail and foodservice markets.

The approval, announced on today, 24 July 2025, follows a successful USDA inspection of the company’s pilot facility in San Francisco and label approval for its cultivated pork fat product, having previously received approval from the FDA earlier this year.

The USDA’s greenlight makes Mission Barns the fourth company in the US to secure full regulatory approval to sell cultivated animal cells for human consumption, and the first to do so for cultivated fat.

“Our mission has always been to solve the biggest barrier to alternative proteins – taste. Cultivated fat is the key,” said Cecilia Chang, chief business officer at Mission Barns. “We’re here to give food companies and manufacturers the missing ingredient that helps their products stand out: Mission Fat.”

Mission Barns' flagship products, debuting in Q3, will initially launch in restaurants and Sprouts Farmers Market stores. Chefs at Fiorella, a San Francisco-based restaurant group, have developed seasonal Italian dishes using Mission’s cultivated fat, including meatballs and bacon. Retail SKUs will feature hybrid offerings that combine plant-based protein with cultivated pork, labelled as: “Cultivated meatballs. Contains real pork without the pig – cultivated pork and plant protein.”

This is the first regulatory clearance worldwide for a cultivated animal fat ingredient – a pivotal achievement given the role of fat in mimicking the sensory experience of conventional meat. Mission Barns uses a proprietary bioreactor platform specifically engineered for scalable, cost-effective production of high-quality cultivated fat.

“There's a clear and growing interest in cultivated fat not just in the US but globally,” Chang added. “We are currently in discussions with partners who see cultivated fat as a critical differentiator. We were well positioned to scale to meet that demand.”

Mission Barns also announced plans to license its production technology and infrastructure to industry partners - aiming to accelerate commercialisation across the sector and support other companies navigating pilot-scale deployment.

The Association for Meat, Poultry and Seafood Innovation (AMPS Innovation) welcomed the approval, calling it a major milestone for the US cultivated meat ecosystem. In a statement, the association said: "American-made cultivated meat and seafood continue to create high-skilled jobs, strengthen US food security and expand consumer choice – filling supply chain gaps and supporting a resilient food system. We commend the FDA and USDA for their rigorous oversight and commitment to food safety in this emerging category."

Founded in 2018, Mission Barns has raised over $60 million to date, with further funding rounds planned. Its mission is to build a more sustainable, secure food system - one that reduces reliance on conventional animal agriculture while using less land, water and energy, and mitigating the risk of zoonotic disease transmission.

With this latest regulatory greenlight, the US now leads globally with approvals across three cultivated species and four fully cleared products and remains the only country where cultivated meat is served regularly at restaurants.