Aleph Farms’ cultivated beef process receives blessing from Israeli government

Aleph Farms received regulatory approval in the form of a “No Questions” letter from Israel’s Ministry of Health for its cultivated beef manufacturing process.

Aleph, an Israel-based cellular agriculture company, says it is the first company to receive this kind of approval for cultivated beef. This process uses animal cells, not a slaughtered animal, often fed and grown in a bioreactor. It’s also a timely and expensive process to manufacture enough to form a whole cut of meat.

Gaining regulatory approval is a feat that has taken cultivated meat companies years to achieve. Here in the United States, cultivated meat companies saw regulatory doors open widely only after the country’s Food and Drug Administration cleared Upside Foods and Good Meat in 2023 to sell their cultivated chicken products across the country. Both are now in restaurants.

Aleph Farms was founded in 2017 by Didier Toubia, Neta Lavon, Shulamit Levenberg and The Kitchen Hub. In the years since, the company unveiled products including a cultivated thin-cut beef steak, cultivated ribeye steak and cultivated collagen. Under the brand Aleph Cuts, the company is launching its first product, a cultivated beef steak grown from non-modified cells of a Black Angus cow and a plant protein matrix made of soy and wheat.

We’ve officially entered a new era of ‘cultivated’ meat production

The regulatory approval grants Aleph Farms permission to produce and market its product in Israel, subject to specific directions for labeling and marketing provided by Israel’s Ministry of Health, and the completion of Good Manufacturing Practices inspection for its pilot production facility, said Yifat Gavriel, Aleph’s chief of regulatory affairs, quality assurance and product safety, worked with the Ministry of Health in a statement.

It’s possible we’ll see Aleph’s cultivated meat in other countries, too. Last summer, Aleph submitted an application in the United Kingdom to sell its cultivated beef steaks under the Aleph Cuts brand in that country. This followed Aleph’s application submitted July 26 for regulatory approval in Switzerland. Both of those submissions are still under review.

“Once these requirements are fulfilled, we will introduce Aleph Cuts to diners, offering exclusive tasting experiences curated in collaboration with select partners,” a company spokesperson told TechCrunch via email. “Entrance to Asia (via Singapore) and the Middle East (via Israel) is currently our main focus. We expect to receive positive indications from the Singapore Food Agency soon. Outside of APAC and MENA, we have submitted applications in Switzerland, the UK and the United States and are advancing applications for other countries.”

The company did not provide details yet on where its Aleph Cuts will be available.

The cultivated meat industry’s known struggles will take time to sort out, and maybe that’s OK