Believer Meats, previously Future Meat Technologies, has announced their intent to erect a production facility in Wilson, NC. The 200,000 square foot plant will cost $123 million and will have a capacity of 10,000 metric tons of cultivated meat, although the time-period was not stated in the company release. The plant will operate bioreactors to achieve high cell densities and yield of product applying a patented process. The facility is expected to be in production during the first quarter of 2024.
The company received a grant of $500,000 from the One North Carolina Fund subject to meeting job creation and capital investment targets with matching by local governments.
Hopefully Believer Meats has conducted appropriate marketing studies confirming the long-term acceptance of cell-cultured meat. Their challenge will be to place product on a shelf at a price competitive with natural red meat and demonstrating comparable organoleptic qualities. The question of approval currently divided between USDA and FSIS has yet to be finalized with the release of appropriate regulations and oversight.