NEW TECH FOODS

The CRAFT (Cellular Revolution in Agriculture and Farming Technology) Consortium – featuring leaders from the cultivated meat, agriculture and technology sectors – has begun designing what it says will be the world’s first cultivated meat farm, aiming to integrate the technology directly into working farms.

The CRAFT Consortium comprises RespectFarms, Wageningen University & Research (WUR), Mosa Meat, Aleph Farms, Multus, Kipster and Royal Kuijpers.

The initiative, co-funded by EIT Food, has secured the first €2 million tranche of a €4 million grant request. The consortium includes RespectFarms, Wageningen University & Research (WUR), Mosa Meat, Aleph Farms, Multus, Kipster and Royal Kuijpers.

According to the partners, the model could cut water use by 78%, land use by 95% and societal costs by 56%, while offering farmers a new source of income.

Merging cellular and traditional farming

CRAFT aims to demonstrate that cultivated meat can be produced alongside traditional livestock and crops, keeping production farmer-led and locally embedded.

“This represents the first effort globally to merge cellular and traditional farming and promises to deliver consumers the best of both worlds: the unrivalled experience of real meat, through products produced and sold locally," said Peter Verstrate, co-founder and COO at Mosa Meat. "The project will deliver a business model that is fundamentally new on one hand and centuries old on the other, and will add new perspective, also for farmers, to agriculture as we know it."

Ralf Becks, co-founder of RespectFarms, added: “CRAFT involves farmers to create new ways of making food. We use what works in agriculture and combine that with new technology. This will accelerate the path to market and to impact. CRAFT boils down a world problem to farm size. So we can solve it. And once it works, we scale this out to the world to increase impact. Let’s export technology instead of meat and animals."

The project will explore how cultivated meat technology can be integrated into existing agricultural infrastructure, creating diversified, resilient food systems.

Consortium expertise

Each partner brings specific expertise to the project:

• RespectFarms - Leading on-farm system integration.

• WUR - Scientific leadership and R&D.

• Mosa Meat and Aleph Farms - Product development, hybrid innovation, regulatory strategy.

• Multus - Scalable, resource-efficient cell culture media.

• Kipster - Sustainable agricultural models and economic expertise.

• Royal Kuijpers - Facility design for safe, efficient operations.

Cai Linton, co-founder and CEO of MEng Molecular Bioengineering, commented: “I’m proud of Multus’ important role in CRAFT as the principal partner for cell culture media development within a highly collaborative consortium. CRAFT is a pioneering effort – bringing together leaders in agriculture and biomanufacturing to demonstrate the path towards a secure and resilient food system."

"Using our high throughput robotics and AI platform, the Multus’ team will create a series of novel high-performance and resource-efficient cell culture media to accelerate the transition of scientific breakthroughs to commercial production and real-world impact."

CRAFT’s first phase focuses on farm-scale design and feasibility. Future stages will involve pilot deployment, with the aim of creating a replicable model for farmers across Europe.