CEO, Steakholder Foods
Steakholder Foods - executive interview
Steakholder Foods, formerly MeaTech 3D, is an international deep-tech food company at the forefront of the cultured meat revolution. It began activities in 2019 and is listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the ticker STKH (formerly MITC). It is committed to creating slaughter-free food production methods that reduce harm to the planet, with a variety of beef, chicken, pork and seafood products — both as raw materials and whole cuts — as an alternative to industrialised farming and fishing. It also aims to provide transformative solutions to food insecurity.
In this video, Steve Schuster,...
About Arik Kaufman
Arik Kaufman, CEO and co-founder of Steakholder Foods, has discussed the company's focus on developing 3D-printed cultured meat products and hybrid products that combine plant-based ingredients with cultured biomass. He stated that the company, which is publicly traded on the Nasdaq, owns a Belgian subsidiary called Peace of Meat that develops avian biomass and cultured foie gras. Kaufman noted that the company has no income yet but is progressing in research and development, and he described hybrid products as the "near future of cultured meat," saying they could be the first such products to enter the market. Kaufman has also commented on challenges facing the cultured meat industry, including the lack of regulation outside of Singapore and the need for subsidies to support disruptive startups. He described the company's valuation as "undervalued compared to our technological achievements" and said that being a publicly traded company is both a challenge due to market climate and an advantage because it allows anyone to become a stakeholder. Kaufman emphasized that Steakholder Foods' processes are patent-protected and that the company aims to produce products that "an animal cannot produce."
Transcript (11 segments)
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Interviewer0:07
Arik, why did you decide to rebrand the company, and how did you go about choosing the name Steakholder Foods? What do you think it means for the future of the company and your customers?
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Arik Kaufman0:16
Steakholder Foods was created more than three years ago, originally to change the way we consume meat. It was more focused inbound. As time has progressed, the company has grown. We've uplisted to the Nasdaq, we've raised a significant amount at the time, we've collaborated with the industry, and the current name looks outbound. The word 'Steakholder Foods' means that every person globally can join our dream in creating meat in a more sustainable and up-to-date way.
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Interviewer0:49
You recently raised six and a half million dollars from a single investor. Can you tell me about the rationale of the timing of that and the use of those funds?
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Arik Kaufman0:58
Sure. So, we are an R&D company that has no income yet, but we are progressing at a very high pace, and we foresee that in the near future we will see already first income from our products. So we wanted to raise an amount that will allow us to continue our R&D process, but at the time we took into account the market crisis that was worldwide right now, so we did not want to raise too much. But this amount will progress us and bring us to the next level.
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Interviewer1:33
Talk a little bit about your plans to build a pilot plant in Belgium.
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Arik Kaufman1:37
So as I said, we've purchased Peace of Meat more than two years ago. It was a strategic purchase for Steakholder Foods. Peace of Meat has progressed a lot and it has reached the stage that it already established a pilot plant that positions Peace of Meat at the top of the hill with respect to cultured meat companies. The pilot plant is supposed to be finalized end 2023, beginning 2024. It will have a capability of tons of cultured biomass production per year, and it will be a baseline for the Steakholder Foods group to establish factories already that will produce cultured meat biomass worldwide.
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Interviewer2:25
Which product and cell line are you most excited about right now?
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Arik Kaufman2:30
So I think one of the uniquenesses of Steakholder Foods is that we have a diversity of species that we are working on. So our Belgian company produces avian cell lines, we are working with bovine cell lines, we have also porcine cell lines, and currently, in the last few weeks, we've published that we are collaborating with a Singaporean-based company with fish cell lines. But we are addressing as many species as possible because, as I said, our goal is a more global impact goal. We are not looking only at the price of a specific species; we are looking at the potential impact it can bring. I think that what excites me the most are products that we are able to produce today that an animal cannot produce. And we will publish certain products in the future, but I can say that with our printer and with our technology, we can deliver to the market products that the cow cannot deliver and that the chicken cannot deliver and that the fish cannot deliver. And I think that's the most exciting thing for me, is to provide the market with exciting, up-to-date, tasty products.
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Interviewer3:48
You've run a number of successful taste tests with hybrid products that combine plant-based protein and your cultured chicken fat. What do you see as the future for hybrid products like these?
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Arik Kaufman3:59
I believe that the hybrid products are the near future of cultured meat. I think that the plant-based products were the first step towards products that are cultured products. I think that the hybrid products are step number two, meaning that it's products that are plant-based and they contain a certain percentage of biomass. This certain percentage is magic added to a plant-based product; it changes the taste, it changes the aroma, and cost-wise, I foresee these products to be the first products that will enter the market. And I think the impact will be amazing. And as time will go by, we will see more complex products, meaning products that contain a larger, higher percentage of biomass. And in the future, we will see more complex products, meaning whole cuts of meat. But for sure, the most exciting products to enter the market in the future will be, I think, a diversity of hybrid products.
I invite everyone to become a stakeholder, join our mission, join our revolution.