Peace of Meat was founded in 2019, by Dirk Standaert, David Brandes and Eva Sommer. The start-up perfected a technology to produce animal fats, specifically those from chickens and ducks, using stem cells in bioreactors. Animal fat is the one thing that’s missing from plant-based meats, causing them to fall short on the meatiness scale. For its research into cultivated foie gras, Peace of Meat received a subsidy of EUR 3.6 million from the local government of Flanders. Now, only two years later, the young start-up is joining forces with Israeli MeaTech 3D.

MeaTech 3D is a specialist in the 3D printing of meat substitutes. The food tech company aims to develop artificial meat that’s virtually indistinguishable from real meat when it comes to bite, texture, taste and appearance. The firm is working on a novel proprietary bioprinter to deposit layers of cells, scaffolding, and cell nutrients to form 3D printed cultured meat.

In November 2020 the company announced that it collected USD 7 million in a funding round led by investment firm Psagot Provident and Pension Funds. It is now in the process of filing for an Initial Public Offering (IPO) in the US to commence trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

Peace of Meat is not merely looking for plant-based alternatives for meat. Instead, lab-grown cells are transformed into meat structures. The company is now concentrating on optimizing this technology to enable cultured meat production at an affordable price.

Jointly, Peace of Meat and MeaTech 3D are hoping to compete with American multi-dollar companies like Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods. Meatless meat is big business in the US, attracting wealthy entrepreneurs, celebrities and even Don Thompson, the former CEO of McDonalds, and Tyson Foods, the country’s largest meat processor.