September 25, 2024
(press release)
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Mitchell Scott has been involved in the plant-based and cultivated food spaces for the past eight years. He co-founded plant-based butchery The Very Good Butchers and oversaw its journey from a farmer’s market stall to one of the top performing IPO of 2020, where at its peak, it achieved a market cap of almost $1 billion. During his time there, The Very Good Butchers sold hundreds of thousands of boxes directly to consumers via its in-house ecommerce platform as well as on Amazon. It also established a retail presence in over 4,000 retailers across North America with many stores carrying 10+ different products from the company. In addition, he launched their products into the U.K. and laid the groundwork for a European expansion. Much of this growth was spurred on by the passionate community of fans (150,000+ across Facebook and Instagram) that was built up over the years. Pet Age recently spoke with Scott to learn more about how cultivated meat fits into the pet market. Why should the pet industry embrace cellular agriculture? Our planet is facing a massive meat shortage, with the demand for meat set to double over the next 20 to 30 years. Roughly 30 percent of our meat supply ends up in pet food and oftentimes it isn’t the highest quality meat/protein. Cellular agriculture represents a clear and compelling solution to this problem that is not only significantly better for the environment but also to the welfare of billions of factory farmed animals. You shouldn’t have to feed your animal another animal to give it all the protein and nutrition it needs to be healthy and thrive. Both ourselves (and our pets) want more meat. Our current production methods won’t allow us to scale meat production to the levels required… we will run out of space/land. A new solution is required and cultivated meat has the potential to be that solution. How would you describe the nutritional value of pet food made with lab-grown proteins? You are getting the exact same nutritional value as conventionally produced meat but without the environmental and ethical overhang. It’s also a cleaner (and potentially healthier) protein with a significantly lower risk profile in terms of disease, antibiotics used in farmed animals and other adverse effects. In addition, during the production process there are opportunities to improve the end product, i.e. remove cholesterol and add additional protein or amino acids. What hurdles or challenges do you see for cultivated proteins in pet food and treats? I see one of the biggest hurdles being consumer education and the adoption of these technologies. This a new way of producing food for our pets and work must be done to educate people on the process and technology behind it. People don’t necessarily understand what goes into pet food currently and why a different method of production is necessary. The second hurdle is scale. This industry is brand new and will take time to scale and reach price parity with conventionally produced meat. In the short term, I don’t see there being a demand problem for cultivated proteins in pet food but rather a supply one. Over time, I see cultivated meat proteins being superior in terms of taste, price, environmental impact, and efficiency of production. The final hurdle is regulatory. While many countries and jurisdictions are looking favorably at cultivated meat and opening up regulatory pathways, some states (such as Florida and Alabama) have banned the sale of cultivated/lab-grown meat. As the industry matures, I expect more and more companies to receive regulatory approval and begin bringing these revolutionary new products to market. Where do specialty pet retailers fit into the focus for Noochies!? This is an important channel for Noochies! and is one of our key focus areas. This channel allows us access to a consumer that is looking for the best for their pet in terms of taste and nutrition. They also care about the larger environmental impacts of pet food. We currently have two SKUs in the market [freeze-dried dog treats and cat treats] and are in the process of launching six more [toppers and supplements]. Our current approach is omni-channel; we want to be available wherever our consumers are shopping, whether online or at their local pet store. They may discover us online and then purchase in-store or vice versa. What does it mean for US pets that the UK has approved lab-grown meat in pet food? I think it’s a huge step forward for the industry. As more companies get regulatory approval and begin commercializing their technology, we will start seeing more products hitting the market. That will raise awareness and lead to more demand for these types of products. The UK has approved product from one company making a cultivated meat for pet food (and selling that ingredient to other pet food manufacturers). Noochies! is actively working on a U.S. approval for cultivated meat in pet food.
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