The collaboration will grant Ivy Farm access to Synbio’s food innovation hub near Helsinki, which is due to open in early 2025, where it hopes to demonstrate the scalability of its range of cultivated meat products.
Synbio is still in the process of completing work on the hub after receiving €2.99m in funding from the Finnish Government, but once opened it will be used to help scale the production capabilities of start-ups operating across precision fermentation, biomass fermentation and cultivated meat.
Possessing pilot scale equipment and production scales at 10,000L and 27,000L, the hub will also boast six 250,000L manufacturing vessels.
The new partnership was publicly announced at Iceland Innovation Week where Ivy Farm co-hosted the first ever tasting of cultivated beef in the Nordic region with ORF Genetics.
The event, which was attended by Icelandic Government officials and other figures within food tech, saw Ivy Farm offer its cultivated Angus beef to a select group of tasters, a preliminary step before the technology can be legalised.
Commenting on the partnership, Ivy Farm CEO Richard Dillon said: "The partnership with Synbio Powerlabs represents a significant milestone for Ivy Farm and our ambitions to scale cultivated meat.
“By leveraging Synbio Powerlabs' expertise and cutting-edge facilities, we are de-risking our scale-up journey with a CAPEX light approach. Ivy Farm is committed to partnering with fermentation experts and licensing our technology in order to accelerate the transition to cultivated meat globally.”
Meanwhile, Synbio chair Alejandro Antalich added: “Through this partnership with Ivy Farm Technologies, we aim to pioneer a new frontier in high-quality food manufacturing by harnessing the potential of mammalian cells within large fermenters, offering sustainable solutions that meet the growing demands of a rapidly expanding population.
“By converging our cutting-edge technology and innovative thinking, we are not only revolutionizing the way meat is produced but also paving the way for a more efficient, scalable, and environmentally friendly approach to mass-scale food production.
“Together with Ivy Farm Technologies, we are committed to pushing the boundaries of what is possible and shaping the future of food.”
In other news, PepsiCo has announced an £8m investment into its Pipers Crisps manufacturing site in Brigg, Lincolnshire.
