Making Meat Affordable: Progress Since the $330,000 Lab-Grown Burger

In 2013, the world’s first lab-grown burger was served at a London news conference, and it cost $330,000 to create. Funding came from the co-founder of Google, Sergey Brin, but the burger’s creator, Professor Mark Post of Maastricht University, was quick to point out that this was only the start of making meat from animal cells.  

A price tag of $330,000 was enough to keep even the most curious foodies away from incorporating lab-grown or cell-cultured meat into their meal plans in 2013. However, today’s market has changed. The price of cell-cultured meat has decreased from $330,000 to about $11 per burger.

Companies and researchers across the globe are working to make lab-grown meat more affordable and accessible. For example, Future Meat has lowered the production costs of its lab-grown chicken from $18 to $1.70. The company became the first one to break the $5 cost barrier for cell-based meat production.

While production costs are falling rapidly, investments in lab-grown meat are on the rise. Our 4Q 2021 Synthetic Biology Venture Investment Report shows that food companies are dominating fundraising with Future Meat raising $347 million. With more startups gaining attention, Leaps by Bayer has invested in Fork & Goode, which is developing a new way to make cultivated animal proteins and fats.

We need affordable food now more than ever. The COVID-19 pandemic has increased world hunger to 811 million people being undernourished, according to the United Nations. Overall, 2.3 billion people struggled with adequate access to food in 2020 and were considered to have moderate or severe food insecurity. If we can make cell-cultured food less expensive and easier to access, it can help feed the entire world.