The world’s first commercially-available pet food line made from cultivated meat has landed on shelf at Pets at Home.
Chick Bites has been brought to market by pet food producer The Pack using cultivated meat produced by Meatly. Pets at Home is the largest investor in Meatly, and the treats are initially on sale as a limited run at the retailer’s store in Brentford, London from Friday, February 7.
Chick Bites combine plant-based ingredients with Meatly chicken with the aim of providing a nutritious, healthy and sustainable alternative to traditional dog treats. To produce Meatly chicken, a single sample of cells was taken from a single chicken egg, and then “fed” with a nutrient mix of essential amino acids, critical fatty acids, minerals and vitamins to produce meat similar to chicken breast.
Meatly received regulatory authorisation to produce the product in July 2024 after review from the Food Standards Agency (FSA), the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), and the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA). The company plans to raise additional funds to expand production and make Meatly Chicken more broadly available in the next 3-5 years, with further collaborations planned with The Pack and Pets at Home.
Damien Clarkson, CEO and co-founder of The Pack, said: “The launch of our Chick Bites treats is a watershed moment for the pet food industry. Cultivated meat offers a tasty, low-carbon, and healthy protein source, which has the potential to eliminate farmed animals from the pet food industry.”
Owen Ensor, founding CEO of Meatly, continued: “We’re incredibly excited to introduce cultivated meat to the pet world. Just two years ago this felt like a moon shot. Today we take off. It’s a giant leap forward – toward a significant market for meat which is healthy, sustainable and kind to our planet and other animals.
“Despite only raising 1% of total European cultivated meat investment, we are the first company to sell cultivated meat in both the UK and EU. And we’re just getting started. Next, we’ll scale our production and make products more widely available to consumers.”
Anja Madsen, chief operating officer at Pets at Home, added: “We are thrilled to be working with Owen and the team to provide cultivated meat pet food products to our customers for the first time in the world.
“This innovation has the potential to significantly reduce the environmental impact of pet food and will be a game-changer for the industry.”
