Funding from Innovate UK has been awarded to Campden BRI and tissue engineering company Cellular Agriculture as part of the Government’s £2 billion investment towards cultivated meat research.

The grant from Innovate UK and the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) is part of a £15.6 million investment in 32 projects within novel low-emission food production systems.

Campden BRI is a research facility based in London, which provides scientific, technical, legislative and information support to the food and drink industry and its allied sectors. Commenting on the company’s funding announcement, Craig Leadley, technology fellow at Campden BRI, said: “By supporting Cellular Agriculture in taking their cutting-edge cultivated meat production system from the biotechnology space into the food industry, this exciting project puts us at the forefront of innovative food research.

“The Innovate UK-funded project will enable us to support Cellular Agriculture to further develop and test their system so that they can commercialise their technology to food manufacturers and cultivated meat companies.”

Illtud Dunsford, CEO of Cellular Agriculture added: “Cultivated meat production represents an opportunity to provide a complementary system to traditional farming methods.

“With the Earth’s resources limited, a holistic approach is needed for the choice of methods to produce high quality protein to meet the growing demand of the global population. Cultivated meat offers an opportunity which utilises less land and water than traditional agricultural production.”