Is cultivated meat the future of pet food? And is there a place for cultivated meat on human dinner tables, too?

Traditional agricultural methods are slow, require large tracts of land, significant energy and environmental inputs, and – somewhat obviously – the slaughter of hundreds of millions of animals every year. Cultivated meat – that is meat that is grown in a lab – requires little land, less energy, and in the case of Meatly, nothing more than a single cell from a single chicken egg, once. 

This week I sat down with Owen Ensor, CEO of UK biotech startup Meatly, to talk all things cultivated meat. He explains the science behind his company’s cultivated meat process, the significant cost savings that Meatly has made to bring down prices for their product, and how his company became the very first in Europe to have a cultivated meat product approved for sale, in the hands of consumers, and in the bellies of beloved cats and dogs.

01:29               Meet Owen Ensor

05:10               Meatly and its mission

10:12               The science of cultivated meat

19:41               Common criticisms of cultivated meat

25:33               Regulation, and geographical diversity in regulation

32:24               Looking forward: from pets to human consumption?

Interested in being a sponsor of an episode of our podcast? Discover how you can get involved here! 

Stay updated by subscribing to our newsletter

To dive deeper into the topic: 

• Cultured Meat Is Coming Soon: Here’s What You Need to Know
• 10 cultured meat companies driving sustainable food in 2025
• The future of food: what’s behind the cell-cultured meat industry regulations?