BASEL, SWITZERLAND – The Bell Food Group is increasing its stake in one of the world’s first companies to attempt to develop and scale cultured beef production, with an investment of $5.67 million (5 million euros) in Mosa Meat, based in Maastricht, The Netherlands. The investment is part of Mosa’s latest financing round that is raising money to advance the production of the company’s cultured beef by constructing a processing plant to ensure mass production of the product. Mosa Meat officials said their goal is to launch the product commercially in the European market in the next two years.

Officials from the Bell Food Group said the investment is part of its strategy to stay relevant in the convenience foods segment and in advancing the developing market for technologies offering alternatives to traditional meat production. Mosa said it plans to be the first company to launch a cultured meat product in Europe with the goal of rolling it out by 2022.

Production at the new processing plant is slated to begin in 2021 with products becoming available to a small number of foodservice customers in Europe. Mosa Meat plans to continue executing the scaling of the product with construction of a plant designed for high-volume production by 2025.

In 2018, Bell invested $2.27 million in the cultured meat start-up, which unveiled the world’s first cultured hamburger in 2013.

“It supports Mosa Meat’s development and research work with its expertise and know-how as one of the leading producers and marketers of meat and charcuterie products in Europe,” said Bell Food Group. “The Bell Food Group also has a strong foothold in the development of innovative nutrition concepts, and it invests constantly in new production technologies and trends for customer-specific solutions.

“Bell Food Group wants to support the long-term development of new production methods that offer a possible alternative to consumers who are re-evaluating their consumption of meat for ethical reasons,” the company said.