Upside Foods is putting plans for its Illinois-based cultivated meat factory on hold and laying off staff to focus on its existing plant.
In September 2023, Upside Foods announced its plans to open a large cultivated meat plant in Glenview, Illinois. The 187,000-square-foot plant was slated to have an initial capacity of millions of pounds of bioreactor-brewed meat per year, which would make it one of the largest planned factories in the nascent cultivated meat industry. The company nicknamed the facility Rubicon, signifying “a point of no return” for cultivated meat production.
can reveal that Upside’s plans to build Rubicon have been put on hold and the company will instead focus on doubling its investment in its established facility in Emeryville before it continues work in Glenview. In an email seen by , Upside CEO Uma Valeti told employees that expanding operations at its Emeryville facility would cost “substantially less” than building the first phase of Rubicon, and that the company had been streamlining the way it operates and stopping non-critical work. The shift also means that roles of those who were focused specifically on the Illinois factory have been eliminated, and those employees received severance.
protects the confidentiality of its sources. Upside’s shift away from the Illinois plant is a “fairly natural response to what remains a pretty challenging funding environment,” says Anthony Chow, cofounder at cellular agriculture investment firm Agronomics, which is not an investor in Upside. With less funding available, startups will have to prove that they can generate meaningful revenues without laying out huge sums for new factories, he says.
investigation revealed that Upside’s textured chicken filets, which until recently it served at a series of monthly dinners at Bar Crenn in San Francisco, were not made in the large bioreactors within EPIC but instead were produced at a very small scale in two-liter roller bottles. While the funding climate for cultivated meat companies is still precarious, there are some signs that the industry is inching forward.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
24 Stranger Things Gifts Any Mega Fan Will Cross to The Upside Down ForNetflix recently announced that “Stranger Things” will end with its fifth season. Here’s how the stars of the show have changed since its 2016 premiere.
Read more »
21 Foods for a Healthy HeartPreventing heart attacks isn't just about avoiding unhealthy food—you should also eat foods rich in nutrients, fiber, and healthy fats.
Read more »
Rizo Lopez Foods Cheese, Yogurt, Sour Cream Recalled Due to Listeria OutbreakRizo Lopez Foods has issued a recall for certain cheese, yogurt, and sour cream products due to Listeria monocytogenes contamination. So far, 26 people have gotten sick from recalled products; two have died.
Read more »
“Foods Can’t Touch on My Plate:” On Life with ARFID and Food Aversions“I am 54 years old, and I didn’t know this was a thing with a name (ARFID) until very recently. I grew up in a clean-your-plate household, so it taught me to be sneaky about getting rid of vegetables and other things I didn’t want to eat.”
Read more »
The 25 Best High-Protein, Low-Fat FoodsCraving protein with less fat? Dive into 25 lean picks, from poultry and fish to plant-powered options. Get lean, get inspired, and get cooking!
Read more »
Cheese listeria outbreak now includes products sold at Trader Joe's, Costco, Whole FoodsRecalled cheese products, taco and salad kits, dips and more were sold at Costco, Trader Joe's and Whole Foods stores nationwide.
Read more »