WEBVTT - Creating a New Food Category 0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:02.360 Well, in recent weeks here on Bloomberg Business a week, 0:00:02.400 --> 0:00:04.800 we've talked about plant based food I mean we're talking 0:00:04.840 --> 0:00:07.720 about like impossible foods, and beyond meat and the like, 0:00:08.160 --> 0:00:12.040 we've talked about fungi based foods as well. But what 0:00:12.160 --> 0:00:17.000 about meat that's grown directly from animal cells, so chicken 0:00:17.040 --> 0:00:20.319 and beef that tastes like chicken and beef, but it's 0:00:20.320 --> 0:00:23.640 not actually from animals that have been killed. There's a 0:00:23.640 --> 0:00:26.599 company working on that. It's called Upside Foods. Amy Chen 0:00:26.600 --> 0:00:29.320 is joining us. She's chief operating officer of the company. 0:00:29.320 --> 0:00:32.320 She joins us after this afternoon from San Francisco. Earlier 0:00:32.360 --> 0:00:35.280 this year, the company did raise a huge, seriously funding 0:00:35.320 --> 0:00:38.480 round four hundred million bucks soft bank Tyson Foods, Bill 0:00:38.560 --> 0:00:43.680 Gates Whole Foods among the organizations and people that invested 0:00:43.720 --> 0:00:44.960 in it. Amy, it's good to have you with us. 0:00:44.960 --> 0:00:47.640 How are you. I'm doing great, Thanks so much, and 0:00:47.720 --> 0:00:50.720 happy Monday from California. Yeah, happy happy Monday. Right back 0:00:50.760 --> 0:00:54.880 at you. Okay, how do you guys do this? So 0:00:54.960 --> 0:00:58.480 it's exactly as you described actually, so we take really animals, 0:00:58.560 --> 0:01:02.360 take themselves. From those animals, we essentially select the ones 0:01:02.400 --> 0:01:04.399 that are going to taste the best and grow the 0:01:04.440 --> 0:01:06.800 best UM, and then we feed them something that we 0:01:06.880 --> 0:01:10.119 call self feed or media UM. It's essentially the same 0:01:10.240 --> 0:01:13.280 kind of nutrients that they would normally get inside of 0:01:13.280 --> 0:01:15.080 an animal's body. We just do it in a what 0:01:15.160 --> 0:01:17.199 we call a cultivator, which is like a stainless steel 0:01:17.240 --> 0:01:19.560 tank that you might see in a brewery or in 0:01:19.640 --> 0:01:23.000 a yogurt factory. We allow them to grow, continue feeding 0:01:23.000 --> 0:01:25.440 them UM, and then ultimately are able to harvest meat 0:01:25.520 --> 0:01:27.480 that is as close to the real thing as you 0:01:27.520 --> 0:01:30.960 can possibly get because it's grown from real animal self amy. 0:01:31.000 --> 0:01:33.200 The timing of this segment is perfect because Tim and 0:01:33.240 --> 0:01:35.280 I have been sent in here since too. We're both starving, 0:01:35.400 --> 0:01:40.640 so so we're acent on board with whatever you're you're 0:01:40.680 --> 0:01:44.200 growing there. But I'm curious, you know, when will we 0:01:44.760 --> 0:01:46.560 be able to see this on the market. I understand 0:01:46.560 --> 0:01:50.880 it has to get regulatory approval first, right, That's exactly right, UM, 0:01:50.920 --> 0:01:53.840 and so we are currently pending regulatory approval UM. But 0:01:53.880 --> 0:01:55.640 as soon as it happens, we will be excited to 0:01:55.640 --> 0:01:58.480 start being able to share it more broadly with consumers. UM. 0:01:58.520 --> 0:02:00.720 And on the point of being hungry, I'll share that 0:02:00.720 --> 0:02:03.560 because it's noontime here. But one of the things that 0:02:03.640 --> 0:02:07.120 really convinced me about the potential and the promise of 0:02:07.160 --> 0:02:09.919 cultivated meat was actually the taste of it um growing 0:02:09.960 --> 0:02:12.560 up in the food world, taste of king and Queen 0:02:12.840 --> 0:02:16.000 um and everything in between um sort of table stakes. 0:02:16.080 --> 0:02:18.919 And so when I first had my bite of cultivated meat, 0:02:18.960 --> 0:02:21.079 I can tell you that's the moment when I really believe. 0:02:21.760 --> 0:02:23.640 And when you think about plant based and a lot 0:02:23.680 --> 0:02:26.000 of these other things that require people to make changes 0:02:26.040 --> 0:02:29.120 in their habits. I'm from Texas, UM and I love 0:02:29.200 --> 0:02:32.480 my meat um, and so I have always just wanted 0:02:32.520 --> 0:02:34.120 to be able to think about a way to change 0:02:34.120 --> 0:02:37.079 the world without requiring people to really change their habits. 0:02:37.080 --> 0:02:40.280 And I think does this in a really compelling way. So, Amy, what, okay, 0:02:40.320 --> 0:02:41.480 if you were to be able to buy this in 0:02:41.520 --> 0:02:43.720 this store when you looked at the ingredients, but on 0:02:43.760 --> 0:02:46.240 the box, what would it say? And and also are 0:02:46.280 --> 0:02:50.720 their antibiotics? Are their their chemicals in it? Etcetera. Now, 0:02:50.760 --> 0:02:52.400 one of the things that's amazing is that it doesn't 0:02:52.440 --> 0:02:54.680 have antibiotics or hormones or some of the things that 0:02:54.680 --> 0:02:57.000 you think about with respect to conventional meat UM. And 0:02:57.040 --> 0:02:59.560 so We're still working on exactly what the label would say, 0:02:59.560 --> 0:03:02.120 but it was really say chickens grown from animal bells 0:03:02.120 --> 0:03:05.120 are cultivated from high quality animal cells. And there's a 0:03:05.160 --> 0:03:07.519 whole range of products that you can imagine, everything from 0:03:07.600 --> 0:03:10.120 a chicken breast or a chicken filet through to a 0:03:10.160 --> 0:03:13.359 sausage or a hot dog. Different products of conventional meat 0:03:13.360 --> 0:03:15.880 would have different labels and so you'd see that same 0:03:15.960 --> 0:03:18.920 kind of thing reflected here. But ultimately the promise is 0:03:18.960 --> 0:03:21.120 that the real cells can be the meat that we 0:03:21.160 --> 0:03:23.640 all love, you know, Amy, I'm wondering if there's the 0:03:23.639 --> 0:03:27.280 potential down the roads even sort of improve on Mother nature, 0:03:27.320 --> 0:03:30.280 you know, and make a steak with less cholesterol, or 0:03:30.400 --> 0:03:34.160 chicken that I don't know comes pre flavored with buffalo 0:03:34.240 --> 0:03:36.960 sauce or something like that. But you're you're just playing 0:03:37.000 --> 0:03:42.600 with God there, alright. But I'm curious, is there, Yes, 0:03:42.640 --> 0:03:45.720 there is there the potential to actually enhance foods and 0:03:45.760 --> 0:03:47.880 make them even healthier and more nutritious than than what 0:03:47.920 --> 0:03:51.440 we're used to. Long term, absolutely, um, I think that's 0:03:51.480 --> 0:03:54.000 something on our roadmap in the horizon. I think in 0:03:54.000 --> 0:03:58.160 the near term we're focused on delivering amazing, delicious meat Um, 0:03:58.200 --> 0:04:01.600 that is safe enough equality and that fits into people's 0:04:01.640 --> 0:04:03.440 diets and into their habits in a way that makes 0:04:03.440 --> 0:04:05.920 a lot of sense. But absolutely longer term, I mean 0:04:05.920 --> 0:04:07.760 exactly what you say. You could have a steak with 0:04:07.800 --> 0:04:11.240 the atritional profile of salmons, UM or anything else that 0:04:11.280 --> 0:04:14.120 you could imagine in terms of allergies or other issues 0:04:14.120 --> 0:04:16.920 that are currently part of the conventional meat system. Well. Amy, 0:04:16.960 --> 0:04:18.760 speaking of the conventional meat system, a lot of people 0:04:18.880 --> 0:04:22.080 who are vegetarians they don't they don't eat meat, you know, 0:04:22.240 --> 0:04:25.320 for a few reasons, and among those reasons include treatment 0:04:25.360 --> 0:04:29.920 of animals or they're just against killing animals for food. UM, 0:04:30.080 --> 0:04:34.719 what is this type of thing vegetarian friendly? You know, 0:04:34.760 --> 0:04:37.839 it's a great question. UM. I would say absolutely, but 0:04:37.880 --> 0:04:41.279 it probably depends on what kind of vegetarians are UM. 0:04:41.440 --> 0:04:43.680 We have a company that is a mix of passionate 0:04:43.680 --> 0:04:47.400 meat eaters UM and carnivores and folks that are passionate 0:04:47.440 --> 0:04:50.039 vegans and vegetarians. And what we've generally found is that 0:04:50.120 --> 0:04:53.240 people who are vegetarian or vegan for ethical reasons or 0:04:53.320 --> 0:04:57.400 environmental reasons, UM will embrace cultivated meat. Folks who are 0:04:57.440 --> 0:05:00.560 maybe vegetarian or vegan for religious reasons or other ones 0:05:00.640 --> 0:05:02.440 may want to take a second look. I was going 0:05:02.480 --> 0:05:06.440 to say, the the environmental footprint of cultivated meat sounds 0:05:06.440 --> 0:05:11.279 like it must be way less than the farm grown version. 0:05:11.360 --> 0:05:13.240 Is that is that safe? Is that a selling point 0:05:13.240 --> 0:05:16.799 of this product? Absolutely? I think one of the pieces 0:05:16.800 --> 0:05:18.520 when you think about what's happening in the future is 0:05:18.560 --> 0:05:21.400 people predict that demand for meat is going to almost 0:05:21.440 --> 0:05:24.400 double by UM. And when you think about the amount 0:05:24.440 --> 0:05:26.880 of land and water, it's about a third that's currently 0:05:26.960 --> 0:05:29.400 used for agriculture, you know, one fifth, one six of 0:05:29.480 --> 0:05:33.000 all greenhouse gasses UM. The world simply cannot sustain the 0:05:33.080 --> 0:05:36.320 kind of demand increases that we're expecting on meat UM. 0:05:36.360 --> 0:05:38.360 And so one of the things that's really exciting about 0:05:38.400 --> 0:05:41.080 cultivated meat is because it happens in a controlled environment 0:05:41.160 --> 0:05:44.359 similar to a manufacturing plant UM, it had the potential 0:05:44.360 --> 0:05:46.920 to have a substantially lower footprint UM. There have been 0:05:47.040 --> 0:05:50.039 third party academic studies that have suggested it could be 0:05:50.080 --> 0:05:54.960 as much as a nine reduction relative to be For example, wait, Amy, 0:05:55.040 --> 0:05:57.119 before we let you go, we only have like fifteen seconds. 0:05:57.120 --> 0:06:01.440 How does it taste? Absolutely? Delay, It tastes just like chicken. 0:06:01.560 --> 0:06:05.359 Right there, we go just like a joke, right, Yeah, 0:06:05.480 --> 0:06:08.520 it's true the world of time. Amy Chen is the 0:06:08.520 --> 0:06:13.000 CEO of Upside of Foods. They're working on lab grown meat. 0:06:13.200 --> 0:06:15.120 Perhaps we'll be able to buy it in the stores 0:06:15.360 --> 0:06:16.120 sometime soon.