| BioTech Foods | |
| Type: | Subsidiary |
| Industry: | Food technology |
| Founders: | Mercedes Vila and Iñigo Charola |
| Location City: | San Sebastián |
| Location Country: | Spain |
| Parent: | JBS S.A. |
BioTech Foods is a Spanish biotechnology company dedicated to the development of cultured meat from the cultivation of muscle cells previously extracted from animals. It is a subsidiary of Brazilian company JBS S.A.
The company is based in Donostia–San Sebastián, Basque Country and was co-founded in 2017 by the CTO of the project, Mercedes Vila,[1] and CEO Iñigo Charola.[2]
This project is based on the construction of tissues from the natural proliferation of animal cells in a controlled environment of humidity and temperature, without genetic modification or antibiotics.[3] Cultured meat based on tissue engineering aims to help alleviate three serious sustainability problems: the high increase in global demand for animal proteins, the environmental impact of factory farming, associated with the production of greenhouse gases and deforestation[4] and animal welfare.
The start-up obtained the support of the CIC Nanogune, a research centre promoted by the Basque government. In 2019 BioTech Foods received the Entrepreneur XXI Award and came first in Expansión's Start Up awards in the Food and Agrotech category.[5]
By February 2020, BioTech Foods was in the development phase of Ethicameat,[6] its brand of pig protein products for the general public and the meat sector. BioTech Foods was one of the first companies to emerge in the global cultured meat sector[7] which could help increase food safety and prevent zoonotic diseases.[8]
As of July 2019, one of the main challenges of the cultivated meat was the high production costs of products.[9] [10] BioTech Foods stated it sought 'to reach pilot scale by 2021'.[9] By the end of 2019, BioTech had opened its first pilot plant.[11]
In November 2021, BioTech Foods announced an agreement by which JBS S.A. was going to acquire a majority of shares in the company, including the pilot plant it operated in San Sebastián. JBS was going to invest in the construction of a new production plant to help BioTech achieve commercial production capacity in mid-2024.[12]