The Netherlands is investing in cellular agriculture by establishing two new facilities to help food companies scale cell culture and precision fermentation. These open-access plants will enable F&B players in the sector to enhance R&D capabilities without spending on costly, pilot-scale production infrastructure. 

“By 2025, we anticipate more companies submitting regulatory approval dossiers and moving closer to cost-effective production. Offering open-access upscaling facilities will allow companies to progress faster and more cost-efficiently by not having to invest in pilot facilities themselves,” Marcel Oogink, MD of one of the facilities, Biotechnology Fermentation Factory (BFF), tells Food Ingredients First.

The BFF will focus on precision fermentation, while the other, an independent spin-out of Dutch food tech company Mosa Meat, will work on cell culture bioprocesses.

The sites, located in the cities of Ede and Maastricht, are the result of a collaboration between the Cellular Agriculture Netherlands Foundation (CAN), BFF, NIZO Food Research, Cultivate at Scale, Mosa Meat, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Nature and the Dutch government’s National Growth Fund.

The stakeholders involved aim to bring industry leaders, research organizations and the Dutch government together to support the growth of the emerging cellular agriculture industry.