• Netherlands-based food tech pioneer Meatable holds milestone tasting event of its cultivated pork sausages, a significant step towards commercialization.
• The Netherlands is the first country in the European Union to permit cultivated meat tastings, which have to be approved by an independent third-party committee sanctioned by the Dutch government.
• Tastings are essential to gain valuable feedback to inform product optimization in the run-up to regulatory approval and commercialization.
• The tasting marks a significant milestone for the cultivated meat industry in Europe and sets the stage for further industry development in the US and globally.

Meatable, the innovative food tech company on a mission to deliver cultivated meat at scale, has successfully hosted the first-ever legally approved cultivated meat tasting in the European Union. This landmark event is a groundbreaking milestone for the industry, as Meatable continues to blaze the trail for cultivated meat tasting approvals across the continent and globally on a fast track to commercialization.

Tastings are essential to gain valuable feedback to inform product optimization on the road to regulatory approval and commercialization. Following approval from the independent Expert Committee sanctioned by the Dutch government on its dossier including extensive product safety data, Meatable welcomed a number of guests to its new headquarters in Leiden, the Netherlands, to enjoy its delicious cultivated pork sausages. Among those who participated in the tasting were Michelin starred chef Ron Blaauw, Constantijn van Oranje, Prince of the Netherlands and Special Envoy, Techleap; and entrepreneur Ira van Eelen, whose father Willem van Eelen is considered the founder of cultivated meat.

Krijn de Nood, founder and CEO of Meatable, said: “We are incredibly proud to hold the first official cultivated meat tasting in the European Union, marking a landmark moment for Meatable and our industry. At Meatable, we have been working tirelessly over the last five years to develop a delicious product that looks like, tastes like and has the same texture and flavor profile as farm raised meat. We now have the opportunity to verify those findings and further optimize our product before mass market entry. I want to thank our guests for supporting the product and contributing to our mission to satisfy the world’s appetite for real meat without harming people, animals or the planet. We look forward to hosting many more tastings in the future as we work towards regulatory approval and global commercialization.”

Constantijn van Oranje, Special Envoy, Techleap, said: “The Netherlands is a pioneer in the development of cultivated meat, and it was an honor to join the frontrunner in the field Meatable for the first European tasting of their products. Meatable’s cultivated meat has great potential to reduce the food industry’s impact on the environment, and I look forward to continuing to support the company as they work towards this goal on a path to commercialization.”

Ira van Eelen, daughter of cultivated meat pioneer Willem van Eelen, said: "This is a huge step for the sector. Before cultured meat companies can submit their dossier to the relevant authorities it is essential that their product can first be tasted. This way, valuable feedback can be collected for further product development. The fact that this is now possible in the Netherlands itself, without having to resort to other countries, is unique!"

One step closer to cultivated meat on your plate

Since launching in 2018, Meatable has been executing on its mission to create delicious and environmentally-conscious cultivated meat products affordably and at scale, utilizing the fastest production process in the industry. Using its proprietary Opti-OX™ technology, Meatable takes one cell from a pig and turns it into a cultivated sausage in only four days, 60 times faster than the time it takes to rear a pig for pork on a traditional farm. By reducing cell differentiation time, the company can produce high-quality cultivated meat at a significantly reduced cost. In comparison to its previous production time of eight days, Meatable’s process now requires half as many bioreactors at scale, cutting CAPEX costs and enabling a more efficient use of production space.

This year, the company plans to launch its first products in Singapore, where it has held multiple product tastings following approval to do so from the Singapore Food Agency (SFA). Pending approval from the SFA to sell its products, Meatable’s products will be available in selected restaurants. The company is also focused on gearing up for its entrance into the U.S. aiming for 2025, pending regulatory approvals.

Meatable is currently approved to hold tastings in the Netherlands and Singapore and has hosted tastings in both countries to-date. For more information on Meatable, please visit https://meatable.com.

About Meatable

Based in the Netherlands, Meatable is an innovative food technology company, aiming to deliver, at scale, cultivated meat that looks like, tastes like, and has the nutritional profile of traditional meat because it is real meat. Meatable’s goal is to satisfy the world’s appetite for meat without harming people, animals or the planet. Its process centers around the use of pluripotent stem cells with patented Opti-OX™ technology, which enables cells to multiply and differentiate into mature muscle and fat cells – the key ingredients for real, tasty meat. This breakthrough technology allows cells to be differentiated in only four days, the fastest process in the world, and enables Meatable to produce meat rapidly, sustainably and cost-effectively.

The Netherlands has long been at the forefront of the cultivated meat industry. The first patent for cultivated meat was filed by Dutch national Willem van Eelen in the late 1990s; the first cultivated meat hamburger was developed at the University of Maastricht in 2013 by a team, which included Meatable’s co-founder and CTO Daan Luining; and the country became the first in Europe to introduce legislation around the approval of tastings in 2023.

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