Memphis Meats, an early developer of cell-cultured meat, has changed its name to Upside Foods. Uma Valeti, CEO and Founder, stated “Our team introduced the world to cultured meat and the evolution to Upside Foods communicates our passion and potential to make our favorite foods healthier for the planet.” He added “Our new name showcases the work we are doing to make eating meat a force for good. We cannot wait for consumers to try our Upside chicken soon.”
Upside Foods and its progenitor Memphis Meats was established in 2015 and has yet to market a product. The company intends producing a chicken substitute in a pilot plant located in the San Francisco Bay area.
Although Memphis Meats was an early entrant to research and development, it is noted that considerable progress has been made in Israel and the Netherlands by competitors all of whom have attracted support from venture capital companies and from established meat and poultry producers. To maintain venture capital funding the company must soon provide an assurance that it is able to produce organoleptically acceptable products at prices that are competitive with conventional beef, pork, and poultry.
To date, plant-based alternatives are more expensive than real product and none of the existing manufacturers have succeeded in attaining profitability. The U.S. cell-cultured meat developers have nothing to offer for commercial consumption. The question of Federal approval with jurisdiction split between the FDA and USDA has yet to be finalized.