“Similar to meat sausages!” A tasting of cultivated meat is happening for the primary time within the EU

Dutch startup Meat bar held the first legally sanctioned cultured meat tasting in Europe.

The menu featured a lab-grown pork sausage. Meatable says The product is “indistinguishable from conventional meat” but does not harm animals or the environment.

To recreate the taste and texture of farm animals, Meatable first takes a single cell sample from a pig. The sample is then cultivated in a bioreactor. Over time, the sample multiplies and forms real muscle tissue, which takes on the familiar flesh shape.

In Europe, however, no one has been allowed to eat the output. That changed when the Dutch government put its stamp on Meatable.

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The opening tasting took place at the company headquarters in Lead. Among the guests were Dutch Prince Constantijn van Oranje, Michelin-starred chef Ron Blaauw and entrepreneur Ira van Eelen, whose father Willem filed the first patent for cultured meat.

Her reaction “was really positive,” said Meatable co-founder and CTO Krijn de Nood.

“We will be in touch with tasters starting today to understand their feedback,” he told TNW.

This feedback will be incorporated into future product development. It will also contribute to Meatable's application to sell the sausages in the EU. However, the first target market is Singapore.

The cultured meat market

Meat bar plans to launch its pork products in Singapore next year. The country wants to reduce its dependence on imports, which make up 90% of its current food supply, by growing meat. In 2020, the city-state question isd the world's first approval for the sale of laboratory-grown meat.

The next destination for Meatable is the United States, which became the second country to allow sales last year.

Europe has been slower to adopt the products. But the Leiden event suggests that support for cultured meat is growing.

According to de Nood, the tasting was “an important first step” towards market launch. But did the flavors live up to the hype?

“It tasted just like meat sausages!” said de Nood.

If all goes according to plan, these sausages could just be an appetizer on the menu. A German startup wants to offer lab-grown fish as a main dish. We can only imagine what is grown for dessert.