Would You Eat Lab-Grown Pork That Moves? MyriaMeat Says It’s the ‘Holy Grail’ of Cultivated Meat

LISTEN TO THIS AUDIO ARTICLE

For the past few years, cultivated meat has faced a tough question: If it doesn’t feel like real meat, will consumers ever buy it? Now, a German start-up believes they’ve cracked the code—by making lab-grown pork move like traditional muscle.

Munich-based MyriaMeat has announced a world-first breakthrough - cultivated pork muscle tissue that contracts like the real thing. The secret? Pluripotent stem cells (iPS) which develop into functional muscle fibres. In short, this lab-grown meat doesn’t just look like pork, it behaves like it too.

But does this mean it’ll feel like the real deal when you bite into it?

Source: MyriaMeat Cultivated Pork Meat

Ask any skeptic of cultivated meat what’s holding them back, and they’ll likely say one of two things - texture or price. While costs are dropping, the texture problem has remained stubborn. Current cultivated meat products, like nuggets or hybrid plant-cell blends, lack the structure and chewiness of animal based cuts.

MyriaMeat believes texture is one of the final barriers to cultivated meat adoption. By successfully growing muscle tissue that contracts like animal-based pork, the company aims to overcome skepticism around mouthfeel and structure, bringing lab-grown meat closer than ever to the real thing.

This could be a turning point. If cultivated meat (shown below) feels just like traditional pork, could that be enough to win over consumers?

Lab-grown meat is contending with an image problem, but a product that moves might sound a little too sci-fi for some consumers and weird them out. MyriaMeat insists while the muscle contracts during growth, it won’t be moving on your plate.

Source: Cultivated Pork Meat © Chernetskaya | Dreamstime.com

Still, the psychology of food plays a major role in consumer acceptance. A 2023 study found that 42% of Europeans are open to trying cultivated meat, but unfamiliar production processes can turn people off. The real test? How will consumers react when they see it in stores?

MyriaMeat is targeting 2026 for regulatory approval in Europe, with plans to debut in high-end restaurants before expanding to mainstream retail. The company claims their first cultivated pork fillet will be indistinguishable from farmed pork, both in texture and flavour.

But will this breakthrough finally convince consumers that lab-grown meat belongs on their plates? If MyriaMeat is right, texture, not just taste, could be what wins them over.

Would you try lab-grown pork if it felt exactly like the real thing?

For more information CLICK HERE

Audio Sponsors Link

ENDS: