Analysis: Who will be the ‘next Meatly’ as cultivated meat innovation gathers pace?

Meatly launched the world’s first pet treats made from lab-grown meat almost 2 months ago, but others are keen to gain a slice of the burgeoning market.

While the British firm benefitted from early regulatory approval, a global first, BioCraft Pet Nutrition also achieved a new milestone in 2025 by becoming the first registered supplier of Category 3 animal by-products (ABP) in the EU through Austrian approval.

Mouse mousse

Now, BioCraft is seizing the opportunity to move forward by partnering with Prefera Pet Food to produce a nutritionally complete cat food that is 99% animal-cell cultured.

“Achieving a near 100% inclusion level of an animal cell-cultured ingredient for a final product is a game-changer for the pet food industry,” says BioCraft founder and CEO Dr. Shannon Falconer. “Most cellular agriculture initiatives struggle to reach high inclusion levels of their ingredient in a final product; however, low inclusion levels don’t accomplish the objective of reducing our reliance on intensive animal agriculture.”

The 2 companies will debut samples of their initial product, a mousse made from cultivated mouse meat, at Zoomark International in May. By the end of this year, it is intended to be available for sale following the commercial launch of BioCraft’s mouse-cell-based ingredient.

Selective eaters

The mousse has been trialed, and Nicola Magalini, General Manager of Prefera Petfood, says cats love it and prefer it to conventional alternatives.

“Cats are notoriously selective eaters, so we’re thrilled with the enthusiastic reception,” she says. “This innovative collaboration marks a significant milestone in functional, sustainable and ancestrally-appropriate pet nutrition.”

North America

On the other side of the Atlantic, Further Foods, a Canadian company CULT Food Science subsidiary, has partnered with an undisclosed supplier of cultivated meat for R&D to launch a cultivated pet treat under its Noochies! brand.

Noochies! was recently represented at the Global Pet Show in Florida and secured orders from a Southeast Asian distributor and others. This move is in line with its stated aim to make cultivated meat pet treats accessible on a global scale.

It is also hoping that one of its cultivated meat suppliers will be successful in securing FDA approval in the US, which would mean the brand would be able to sell pet food products, including those suppliers’ cultivated meat, in the United States without the need for the company to conduct any feeding trials separately. It believes this will lead to a faster route to market and lower costs.

“We are thrilled to be making tangible progress toward the commercial launch of Noochies! cultivated meat pet treats,” says Mitchell Scott, CEO of CULT Food Science. “One of the biggest challenges for us has been to find partners who can supply the required amounts of cultivated meat at a price point that works for our business model.”

Scott adds that the company is confident that its partnerships will enable it to launch cultivated meat in pet treats in the near future “to redefine the pet food industry with sustainable, ethical solutions.”

Other challengers

Bene Meat Technologies is among the other companies seeking to be a key player in the cultivated meat-for-pet food market. The Czech firm aims to become the world’s largest producer of cultivated raw meat materials.

Meanwhile, Israeli firm Ever After Foods and Switzerland’s Bühler are collaborating to scale up the production of cultivated meat products. While the partners are looking at the broader market for lab-grown meat, Bühler’s Chief Technology Officer, Ian Roberts, recently told GlobalPETS that the partnership would have applications for the sector.

“Our strategic collaboration with Bühler, a global leader in food equipment, is a critical step toward delivering scalable and efficient technologies that empower cultivated meat producers and food companies to bring their products to market,” says Eyal Rosenthal, CEO of Ever After Foods.

“Together, we are driving the development of tailored solutions to sustainably scale cultivated meat production.”