With its cultivated meat, Magic Valley is putting its money where its mouth is.
Meet Paul Bevan, Founder and CEO Magic Valley — an Aussie startup that is cultivating meat and reducing green house emissions, land use, and water usage!
We caught up with the Paul to learn more about his story, Magic Valley’s journey so far, the future of cultivated meat and more. Excerpts from our chat below:
Can you tell us about the story of Magic Valley? How did it all start?
I’ve spent a substantial portion of my life advocating for animals and animal rights, and unfortunately, activism alone wasn’t making the impact I had hoped.
When I discovered cutting-edge technology that could be used to produce real meat products from just a small sample of cells, I saw its potential to eliminate animal cruelty and provide a sustainable solution to producing protein and I was all in!
Using stem cell technology, we can produce real meat products with the same taste, texture and mouthfeel as conventionally produced meat. Plus, we can also enhance the nutritional profile (with Omega-3’s, vitamins etc.), and at scale, produce it for a much lower cost than conventional meat.
You’ve spent a fair amount of time in the corporate world, what made you jump from corporates to the startup ecosystem?
I’ve always wanted to be my own boss and run my own business. Due to various life circumstances, it took me a while to make that leap to full-time founder, but I have now founded 3 successful startups and had a thousand other business ideas that have gone absolutely nowhere! But I’m finally working on my passion!
How is Magic Valley’s cultivated meat different from anything in the market / what makes it unique?
Our cultivated meat products are made using scalable technology that enables us to produce more product for a lower cost than our competitors, who are using older technologies.
We can also produce any cell or tissue type (e.g., muscle, fat, etc.) from the initial sample cells, and we never have to interfere with an animal again as the cells multiply in an unlimited fashion!
Our process is also completely animal component-free (aside from the initial cell samples) meaning our products are some of the only ethically produced cultivated meat products in the world.
And of course, our products are also non-GMO!
“Our process is also completely animal component-free (aside from the initial cell samples) meaning our products are some of the only ethically produced cultivated meat products in the world.”
With the conversation on sustainability buzzing all around us, what sort of impact do you see the cultivated meat industry having in the future? How would you place that on a timeline, perhaps?
It is projected that a complete replacement of conventional meat with cultivated meat would result in an incredible 92% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, 95% reduction in land use and a 78% reduction in water use. So, the potential impact for cultivated meat is huge! Consumers are becoming increasingly aware of the ethical and environmental impact of their purchasing choices. We’ve seen a lot of interest in tasting our product, and lots of people are very excited about seeing our products available for purchase.
Unfortunately, this isn’t going to happen overnight as it will take the industry many years to scale-up production to meet the global demand for animal protein, but I’m confident it won’t be too far away!
“Complete replacement of conventional meat with cultivated meat would result in an incredible 92% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, 95% reduction in land use and a 78% reduction in water use.”
What’s been some major highlights for you over the past year?
Last year we produced the world’s first cultivated lamb products using our specialised technology, without the use of any additional animal products. It’s always been important to us that our method of producing cultivated meat doesn’t harm a single animal, and it was a huge achievement to be among the first to develop a method that works so well.
And just last month we launched our cultivated pork products, which we produced using the same technology platform. This was followed by our first public tasting events in Melbourne of our cultivated pork dumplings and cultivated lamb tortellini - to rave reviews!
And what would you say are some of the most front-and-centre challenges for you and Magic Valley currently?
The fundraising environment for everyone, but particularly the food-tech industry, is really challenging at the moment. Our immediate technical challenge is scaling up production, which we’re tackling head-on right now.
How would you define success for Magic Valley, and yourself personally?
Success for Magic Valley will be the commercialisation and globalisation of a scalable and ethical solution for producing cultivated meat products.
Success for me personally will be seeing the first cultivated meat products come to market. The impact that cultivated meat will have on people, the planet and animals will be realised long after I’m gone, so my goal is to establish the industry and set the wheels in motion.
“The impact that cultivated meat will have on people, the planet and animals will be realised long after I’m gone, so my goal is to establish the industry and set the wheels in motion.”
And what’s next on the cards for Magic Valley? Anything in particular for us to look forward to?
There’s a lot coming up in the next 12-18 months. Next on the cards is the regulation and commercialisation of our cultivated lamb and pork products, the establishment of our pilot plant facility and further product development - beef will be next!
We’ve been working on a couple of secret projects that I can’t say too much about - but keep an eye on your TV screens and our social channels over the next few weeks and you’ll be sure to find out!
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To learn more about Magic Valley, head here.
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