THE Israeli company that pioneered laboratory-grown beef copycat foods has now expanded into cell-cultured collagen for the beauty industry.
It's a step the beef industry finds exasperating, given the investments it has made in developing markets in this space in a bid to fully utilise the entire carcase.
Conventional collagen comes from processing hides and bones and other coproducts.
Aleph Farms makes no secret its aim is to 'develop a complete alternative to animals' via cellular technology.
That has sparked quips in the Australian beef industry the next move will be decorative whole cow replacements for placement in paddocks to replicate the 'feel-good' amenity factor of cattle grazing.
Aleph was the first to grow cultivated beef lookalike steaks.
Co-founder and chief executive officer of Aleph Farms Didier Toubia calls it cellular agriculture and says that industry promises to replace a large part of intensive animal farming.
"Cultivated meat, however, is only part of that solution as meat represents just 30 to 35 per cent of the cow that is slaughtered," he said.
"The rest includes many other valuable byproducts. To achieve our vision, we need to provide alternatives to the other animal parts as well, including collagen-based products.
"Focusing on single categories of animal products does not account for the complexity of the animal agriculture ecosystem."
Aleph Farms' cultivated collagen claims to offer attributes of natural animal-based collagen that are unmatched by plant or fermented recombinant-based alternatives.
It has been 18 months in the making 'by an expert team in stealth mode' and is now moving into full product development stage, with a launch planned for 2024.
Vice president of research and development at the company, Dr Neta Lavon, said key components from the production method for cultivated steaks was used.
"This includes our bovine cell sources and animal component-free growth medium to produce several nature-identical collagen types directly from cow cells, as well as the entire extracellular matrix (ECM) which comprises a variety of fiber-forming proteins and represents the complete matrix of skin, bones and joints," she said.
"Collagen is the most abundant protein in the ECM and is well recognized for its benefits."
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Shan Goodwin
Shan Goodwin steers ACM’s national coverage of the beef industry. Shan has worked as a journalist for 30 years, the majority of that with agricultural publications. She spent many years as The Land’s North Coast reporter and has visited beef properties and stations throughout the country and overseas. She treats all breeds equally. Contact 0427686187. E: s.goodwin@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Shan Goodwin steers ACM’s national coverage of the beef industry. Shan has worked as a journalist for 30 years, the majority of that with agricultural publications. She spent many years as The Land’s North Coast reporter and has visited beef properties and stations throughout the country and overseas. She treats all breeds equally. Contact 0427686187. E: s.goodwin@austcommunitymedia.com.au
