lab meat

The Good Dog Food jv will use Roslin’s animal cell line technology to develop lab-grown pet food

Cultivated meat investor Agronomics has partnered with a food biotech company to develop lab grown meat for pets.

Good Dog Food is a joint venture between the London Stock Exchange-listed group and Roslin Technologies, a University of Edinburgh spin-out.

The jv will develop a novel range of healthy, eco-friendly pet food products made using cultivated meat.

Roslin is connected to Edinburgh’s Roslin Institute, famous for cloning Dolly the sheep, working closely with the institute to generate animal stem cells for cell-cultured meat production.

Led by CEO Owen Ensor, Good Dog Food will focus on the development, registration and product launch of cultivated meat pet food products with the aim of reducing the use of live animals and significantly lowering the environmental impact of the industry.

“An untapped sector of the agricultural market is the production of pet food via cellular agriculture,” said Jim Mellon, executive director of Agronomics and chairman of Good Dog Food.

“As a dog owner, I have been looking for high-quality meat alternatives to provide to my dogs. Good Dog Food will do exactly that. It is even more exciting to know that Good Dog Food may accelerate the introduction of cultivated meat to the broader public.”

Pet food accounts for almost a quarter of meat produced in the US and is responsible for 65 million tons of CO2-equivalent methane and nitrous oxide, according to Agronomics.

Roslin Technologies CEO Ernst van Orsouw added: “Combining our joint passion for a more sustainable world and our unique complementary expertise will allow Good Dog Food to become the global leader in cultivated meat-based pet food products and make a positive impact on the food chain.”

Headquartered in the Isle of Man, Agronomics invests in lab-grown meat start-ups and has established a portfolio of more than a dozen companies in the rapidly advancing sector – including the likes of Livekindly, Mosa Meat, Meatable and VitroLabs.