After four years of being in stealth, Fork and Good is emerging with its pilot facility in Jersey City, where it will initially produce cultivated pork with the goal of expanding to other meats in the future. Currently, the company has raised $22 million from investors, led by True Ventures, with participation from Leaps by Bayer, Collaborative Fund, Firstminute, Green Monday, and Starlight.
Fork and Good is working to offset an existential crisis in conventional pork farming caused by a rise in viral diseases and antibiotic resistance, shrinking water and land resources, as well as concerns about the impact on the environment. As a result, the pork supply chain has been weakened and its price has fluctuated, putting meat out of reach for many consumers in the near future. Juergen Eckhardt, Head of Leaps by Bayer, also emphasized the need to develop alternative protein sources that are both nutritious and affordable at scale, to sustainably feed 10 billion people by 2050.
Fork and Good is taking on the massive global pork market, with an aim to reduce supply chain instability by focusing initially on ground pork. To differentiate themselves, they are cultivating muscle cells instead of stem cells which makes for more straightforward and cost-effective production. By eliminating the need to modify stem cells or other types of cells, as well as utilizing a patented bioprocess and bioreactors that make it easier to produce higher volumes at greater density, they can keep output simple while still reducing prices.
“Achieving high yields at an affordable price point is incredibly complex, and Fork and Good is uniquely equipped for the task,” said True Ventures' Adam D'Augelli. With much less water and minimal impact on the surrounding ecosystem, the Jersey City facility can produce six to ten times as much pork per square foot than would be possible with traditional farming methods.
Founder and CEO of Fork and Good, Niya Gupta, said the pilot facility will help achieve their mission of producing delicious and accessible cultivated pork.. Furthermore, Fork and Good wanted to wait until they had something real before going public due to the hype in the space.
Prior to Fork and Good, Niya co-founded ComCrop, an urban farming startup in Singapore that uses hydroponics to grow large quantities of produce in a small space.
“From my experience in hydroponics, it became clear that low yield was the reason cultivated meat was so expensive,” said Niya. “We measure yield by feed conversion in livestock, and it was too low in cultivated meat. Our feed conversion is already close to that for pigs and we’re on track to be better.”
As a co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Niya Foods, Gabor Forgacs has decades of scientific expertise. In 2011, Gabor introduced the world to cultivated meat on the TEDMED stage as a pioneering biophysicist with a 30+ year academic career. The Scientific Founder of Organovo, a bioprinting company, and Modern Meadow, a cultivated meat company, he develops biofabricated materials that reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
In order to ensure a future where everyone can have access to safe, humanely-produced meat that is healthy for people and the planet, Fork and Good has formed partnerships with food industry leaders.
Comments