The World's First Lab Grown Meat Factory Just Opened Up

It can produce the equivalent of 5,000 burgers a day.

Growing Burgers

Israeli biotech company Future Meat has opened what it claims to be the "world's first industrial cultured meat facility," a watershed moment in the development of futuristic meat alternative products.

They say the facility is capable of producing 1,100 pounds of lab grown — rather than plant-based — meat products a day, or roughly the equivalent of 3,000 medium-sized hamburgers.

"This facility opening marks a huge step in Future Meat Technologies' path to market, serving as a critical enabler to bring our products to shelves by 2022," CEO Rom Kshuk said in a press blurb.

The facility could lay the groundwork for many others like it in the future, particularly in the US, where plant-based meat substitutes are already becoming increasingly popular.

"Having a running industrial line accelerates key processes such as regulation and product development," Kshuk said.

The company claims cultured meat generates 80 percent less greenhouse emissions, uses 99 percent less land, and consumes 96 percent less water than traditional meat production.

Slaughter-Free

The factory can produce cell-based chicken, pork, and lamb products, with the capability to produce beef products "coming soon," according to the statement.

The company also claims the process is about 20 times faster than raising animals and then slaughtering them, and that the process is becoming cheaper faster than expected.

"After demonstrating that cultured meat can reach cost parity faster than the market anticipated, this production facility is the real game-changer," Future Meat chief scientific officer Yaakov Nahmias said.

In February, Future Meat announced it had managed to bring the production cost of a cultured chicken breast product to under $10, a decrease in cost "by 1,000 times over the last three years," as Kshuk told The Spoon at the time.

It's an exciting new chapter in weaning modern society off of traditionally manufactured meat. Stateside, the demand for plant-based meat substitutes is on the rise — and lab-grown meat may just be the next step. Future Meat is hoping to expand into US markets as soon as next year.

READ MORE: 5,000 burgers a day: World’s first cultured meat production plant opens in Israel [Israel Hayom]

More on cultured meat: This Classy Startup Is Working on Lab-Grown Elk, Wagyu Beef