UK launches world’s first lab-grown pet meat

Consumers in the UK can now buy pet treats made from lab-grown meat. The treats contain plant-based ingredients and 4% chicken meat grown in a lab by Meatly, a London-based startup that last year became the first company in the world to receive regulatory approval to use the meat in pet food, reported by CNN.

Lab-grown, or cultured, meat is made by harvesting a tiny sample of animal cells — in this case, from a chicken egg — and then growing them in a steel tank called a bioreactor, along with water and nutrients. In a matter of weeks, the protein mass is produced with far less environmental impact than raising a live animal, in terms of land and water use and carbon emissions — and without having to kill an actual chicken.

Chick Bites in collaboration with pet food brand The Pack

This is the first time a consumer has been able to buy a cultured meat product for their pet, and the first time in Europe that a consumer has been able to buy cultured meat, for both humans and animals. There is a huge pressing need in the pet world, with 20% of the meat consumed worldwide being consumed by our pets. The average Labrador eats more meat than its owner. The treats, called “Chick Bites” in collaboration with pet food brand The Pack, are currently only available at one London store of Pets at Home, a chain that operates 457 stores in the UK and was an early investor in Meatly.

Meat alternatives have become increasingly popular in recent years, but unlike plant-based products that use protein such as soy or peas to mimic real meat, and products that use microbial fermentation such as mushrooms or yeast to produce protein, cultured meat is not yet widely available.

Growing meat production

Only a handful of countries have approved the sale of lab-grown meat, including Singapore in 2020, the United States in 2023, and Israel in 2024. However, two US states — Florida and Alabama — have since banned cultured meat, and none are currently available for sale in the country. In 2023, Italy became the first country to ban the sale of lab-grown meat, although the move has since been challenged by the European Union.

But one of the biggest challenges for meat-growing companies is scaling up to be able to produce enough for a large-scale commercial launch. Pet food accounts for a quarter of all meat consumption. So developing an alternative method of producing pet food that ensures food safety while preserving the essential nutrients animals need is a major milestone.

Meatly aims to produce cultured protein for humans too

As technology continues to advance, he adds, the culture media used to grow animal cells will become increasingly cost-effective and environmentally sustainable. Using cultured meat for pet food is a logical choice, provided it meets a price point that consumers can afford, while also ensuring high food safety standards and maintaining or even enhancing important nutritional value for pets.

Lab-grown meat has yet to win over consumers. There is a lot of evidence that consumer acceptance of cultured meat is closely tied to familiarity. When a product becomes more familiar in any form, it tends to be perceived as more normal and therefore accepted. After making pet food that it hopes will help consumers familiarize themselves with lab-grown meat, Meatly aims to make cultured protein for humans as well.