Mission Barns, a San Francisco-based food tech startup, has achieved full regulatory clearance from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for its cultivated pork fat, clearing the way for commercial rollout.
This follows a prior ‘no questions’ letter from the FDA, completing the dual-agency approval required for cultivated meat products in the U.S.
The company’s initial offerings — Italian-style meatballs and applewood-smoked bacon made with a blend of plant proteins and small amounts of cultivated fat — will soon be available at select Sprouts Farmers Market locations and Bay Area restaurant Fiorella Sunset. Despite current state-level bans on cultivated meat, federal regulators have deemed the product safe, appropriately labeled, and legally sellable.
Founded in 2018, Mission Barns uses fat cells from American Yorkshire pigs and grows them in bioreactors to produce pork fat, a cost-effective and flavor-enhancing ingredient. The startup emphasizes that even a small inclusion of this fat dramatically improves the sensory experience of plant-based meats. Its proprietary bioreactor technology allows scalable production at lower costs, a key part of its B2B strategy.
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Looking ahead, Mission Barns plans to expand internationally into regions with regulatory frameworks aligned with the U.S., such as Singapore and parts of Asia. The company is also preparing for a new fundraising round to support scaling and licensing of its technology, betting that investor confidence will return as the cultivated meat sector matures.
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