Cellular Agriculture gets Boost in the Netherlands

In October 2023, the Dutch government confirmed €60 million to support an ecosystem around cellular agriculture, the technology to produce animal products such as meat and milk proteins directly from animal and microbial cells. It is the world's largest ever financial support by a national government for cellular agriculture.

The activities aim to significantly boost the Dutch cellular agriculture (CA) ecosystem over the next eight years by, among other things, developing fundamental and applied CA knowledge, making scale-up facilities available to CA companies and training suitably qualified CA personnel. This will make the Netherlands more attractive as a business location for companies in the CA sector.

The implementation of the plan will start under the coordination of the Cellular Agriculture Netherlands Foundation, in collaboration with the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality.

The Cellular Agriculture Netherlands Foundation is a consortium of entrepreneurs, scientists, academics, pioneers, and food lovers who see cellular agriculture as a powerful tool to make our food system more sustainable while maintaining the delicious, safe, and nutritious meat and dairy products people enjoy. At present, about 40 organizations take part in the community. Founding parties were SDG Nederland, RESPECTfarms, The KindEarth.Tech (KET) Foundation, CE Delft, Mosa Meat, Bioprocess Pilot Facility B.V. (BPF), Delft University of Technology, Wageningen University & Research, Nutreco, DSM, Planet B.io @ Biotech Campus Delft and Meatable.

The Netherlands has a strong history when it comes to innovation in food production. The confirmation of this public investment in cellular agriculture is an example of the Dutch government's commitment to building a food system that is healthy and sustainable. Combined with reforms in traditional agriculture and livestock production, cellular agriculture can be an additional option to meet the growing global demand for protein.

This year, the Netherlands will also be the first country within the European Union where cultured meat can be tasted. In fact, new laws and regulations allow cultured meat companies to hold tastings.