Pet food supplier Omni and cultivated meat producer Meatly have collaborated in producing a new cat food which is the world’s first to use cultivated chicken as its protein source.
Rather than using meat from animals in the agricultural food chain, cultivated meat is grown in temperature-controlled containers from single samples of cells extracted from chicken eggs. The process sees the cells “fed” with the necessary vitamins, minerals, and amino acids to produce antibiotic-free real chicken meat.
With 22% of meat production in the UK currently consumed by pets, cultivated meat is being presented as a way for the pet food industry to reduce its emissions of greenhouse gases and reliance on industrial agriculture.
Cans of cat food under the Omni brand are already in production as the company seeks regulatory approval. Meatly aims to become both the first company in the world to sell cultivated meat for pets, and the first to gain regulatory approval and sell cultivated meat-based products in the UK and Europe.
Omni was founded in 2021 by veterinary surgeon Dr Guy Sandelowsky and ex-investment banker Shiv Sivakumar. The company specialises in novel protein pet food products and has achieved more than £2 million in sales to date selling dog food crafted from pulse, algae, and yeast protein.
Meatly (previously known as Good Dog Food) was founded in 2022 by chief executive Owen Ensor and Dr Helder Cruz with backing from investor Agronomics. As an early investor in Meatly, Pets at Home plans to be the first retailer to offer the 150g cans of wet cat food in its stores.
Ensor said: “It is incredibly exciting to see the first ever cans of cultivated pet food fly off the production line. This is a major milestone for cultivated meat globally and shows that we are ready to sell product.
“As demand continues to grow, with pet food already accounting for 20% of meat produced globally, so too does the industry’s environmental impact. Cultivated meat gives pet parents an easy choice – high quality, tasty, nutritious, and sustainable pet food. We’re thrilled to work with innovative companies like Omni to make this a reality as soon as possible.”
Omni’s Dr Sandelowsky commented: “Meatly’s ingredient is incredibly exciting to us at Omni, not only because it represents a virtually infinite, cruelty-free source of meat but also because it can be optimised for health. This means more essential vitamins, minerals and omegas, and an elimination of the troublesome components that can be found in traditional meat, such as antibiotic residues.
“We see the ingredient of particular importance to the cat food market, which lacks credible alternative protein solutions currently.”
David Wainwright, commercial director at Pets at Home, added: “We are excited to be a part of Meatly’s journey and are looking forward to being the first retailer to offer their products in our pet care centres.
“While it is still early days, we are committed to helping drive change in the industry and finding sustainable alternatives to replace some of the protein used globally in pet food would be a major step forward.”
