# Cultivated meat. It’s science (but not rocket science). Rather than raising whole chickens, pigs, or cows, we grow only the meat we want to eat—directly from real animal cells. At scale, it will be a more humane and future-friendly way to grow high-quality food for meat lovers everywhere. ## Start at the source The process begins by taking a small amount of cells from an animal. We created our first product, chicken, from a fertilized heritage-breed chicken egg. One cell sample (which is about the size of half a grain of rice) contains millions of cells. ## Select the Best Our team selects the best cells — based on their ability to consistently and efficiently produce safe, high-quality meat — to develop a cell line. After we establish the cell line, we generate a large master cell bank. We keep the bank in a deep freeze that stores small vials of cell lines for years (if not decades), enabling the production of a whole bunch of chicken. A robust cell bank helps us limit the number of additional samples taken from animals in the future. ## Grow As We Go We kick off the cultivation process by placing cells from a selected cell line into a cultivator and feeding them with a blend of nutrients, which includes water, sugars, amino acids, vitamins, minerals, and salt. As these small batches of cells, called seed trains, multiply, we increase the size (and/or number) of the cultivators to give them more space to grow. Our cell feed is made up of the same kinds of nutrients that cells would get inside an animal’s body. Our process breaks down the nutrients into their constituent parts, including: - Water - Saccharides (sugars like glucose and fructose) - Amino acids (like glutamine and lysine) - Vitamins (like vitamin C and vitamin B6) - Minerals (like calcium and potassium) - Buffers and processing aids (like sodium bicarbonate) - Salts ## Harvest, Formulate & Enjoy! After two to three weeks our meat is ready for harvest. We remove it from the cultivator(s) and separate it from the cell feed. We then take this harvested meat and (in the case of our first product) mold it into the shape of a chicken filet. Other products may be seasoned, breaded, or otherwise formulated before they are refrigerated or frozen and packaged for distribution. Now all that’s left is to cook, eat, and enjoy! ## EPIC. It’s how (and where) it’s made. EPIC stands for Engineering, Production, and Innovation Center. It’s our cultivation facility where we’re perfecting the science, engineering—and taste!—of cultivated meat and showing the world how it’s done. Located in the middle of a California neighborhood, EPIC was built to produce up to 50,000 lbs. of cultivated meat across our portfolio of products every year, with a projected expansion capacity of up to 400,000 lbs. once fully operational. The good news? It won’t be our only facility for long. We’re already at work on a larger space that will produce more than ten million pounds. ### Kitchen Our entire facility is designed around our open kitchen—this kitchen is the heart of our home! In addition to hosting company events and guests, every day, you can find UPSIDERs sitting down for lunch together. ### Cultivation Room The Cultivation Room is home to our production vessels, called Cultivators, that provide the optimal environment for cells to grow with just-the-right temperature, oxygen, and cell feed to keep our cells happy. Inside these cultivators, the cells multiply and grow. To start the process of cultivation, cell feed is transferred into Cultivators along with a small sample of cells. Depending on the platform we are using, the cells are then moved through a series of cultivators of increasing size or quantity to continue their growth. Fun Fact: Given how seismically active the Bay Area is, our large-scale cultivators are connected through an intricate system overhead (instead of underground)! ### Control Room Cells don’t sleep! The Control Room is the brain of our facility—here, in our largest-scale cultivation systems, the cultivators are all connected to an intricate system that we constantly monitor for safety and quality measuring everything from the temperature of the Cultivators, levels of oxygen and CO2, to the amount of nutrients the cells are consuming from their Cell Feed—to make sure that everything is running perfectly. This close monitoring allows us to catch any problems early and minimize waste while also making sure that the cells we’re growing turn out exactly as we want them! ### Transition Room Did you know that the point at which the cells are harvested (or removed from the Cultivators) also corresponds to the moment that regulatory oversight of our process changes from the FDA to the USDA? In conventional meat production, the FDA oversees everything until the point of slaughter, at which point the USDA takes over. In cultivated meat production, this transition takes place when the cells are removed from their nutrient source. From this point on, the USDA oversees the food preparation, packaging, and labeling of our products. The Transition Room is where this handoff in oversight officially occurs! ### Food Formulation Room Once harvested, our meat is processed and stored in a series of interconnected rooms specifically designed for safe food handling–just like in any other food manufacturing facility. In addition to meat processing areas and rooms for packaging and cold storage, we have a full commercial-grade Test Kitchen. To explore and design new recipes and techniques, our Food R&D team uses a range of equipment found in a commercial kitchen to formulate the harvested meat into delicious dishes that are ready to enjoy. We have the equipment in our formulation areas to turn our meat into our favorite foods—chicken filets, sausages, or everything in between. ### Tech & Development This “Tech Dev” area enables our teams to keep testing and developing next-generation technologies to keep the goodness coming. As pioneers in our industry, our engineers and scientists are constantly innovating, developing, and building new-to-the-world equipment, processes, & methods to grow cultivated meat. ## Cultivation Glossary ### Speak like a scientist. ### Cell Bank After we establish the cell line, we generate a large master cell bank. We keep the bank in a deep freeze that stores small vials of cell lines for years (if not decades), enabling the production of a whole bunch of chicken. A robust cell bank helps us avoid taking additional samples from animals in the future. ### Cell Feed Also known as media, it is the food for the cells—a liquid diet that includes water, sugar, amino acids (protein), vitamins, minerals, and salts. Having the right mix of nutrients in our cell feed allows our cells to grow and thrive. ### Cell Line An established and characterized cell derived from an animal that can grow in our cultivators to produce significant quantities of meat. Each unique cell line is stored in a cell bank to support use in meat production. ### Cell Sample The cells we take from an animal to make meat. The cells can be from muscle, fat, skin, or other parts we eat. ### Cultivator Cell cultivation vessels designed and operated to produce meat. They provide an environment and access to nutrients which support the growth of the cells. ### Master Cell Bank A standard library of identical cryogenically frozen cell lines stored in vials. ### Primary Cells Cells that are taken directly from living tissue and used in culture directly. ### Seed Trains A seed train is the term we use to describe the expansion of our cells prior to the actual meat-making step. In this stage, we safely and efficiently go from a few million cells to over a trillion cells in a few weeks based on cell growth rate. Seed trains are the method that we use to build cell volume to feed into the cultivator. ### Suspension Cultures which are grown as single cells or a small cluster of cells suspended in a liquid media (or "cell feed"). Suspension chicken cells are the base of our ground-type products. ## The Firsts of Many Since 2014, we’ve been the first to turn our scientific discoveries into safe and scalable methods for cultivated meat production. And we’ve got the patents to prove it—19 so far and counting! Here are a few of our favorites. ### 2014 001/01 EP protects a method for myogenic differentiation of cells ### 2018 004/01 US protects a GE method for increasing cell density ### 2020 007/02 US CON protects a method for growing cells on a patterned texture substrate 014/01 US protects a device for growing a meat product ### 2021 021/01 US protects a method for growing cells on a filter aid ## People with Perspective Our scientists are industry experts with resumes to match. You might bump into some of them when you tour EPIC, our cultivation facility in California. Rachel Valenzuela Director, Discovery Mark Juhas Senior Director, Upstream Development ## Meat with Strict Safety Standards At UPSIDE, we take our manufacturing process seriously. To ensure the safety of our processes and products, we have implemented various practices and programs that comply with FDA and USDA guidelines. These are the same kinds of food safety programs that conventional FDA and USDA-regulated food manufacturing and meat processing facilities employ, including: - Current Good Manufacturing Practices - Ingredient and Material Traceability - Validated Sanitation Processes - Hazard Analysis & Prevention Measures - Ingredient Review & Approval Process - Food Defense Program ## Still curious? ### Where do you obtain your cells? The source for our current product was a fertilized chicken egg—but living animals, eggs, fishing, and recently slaughtered animals who were already a part of the food system are also potential sources. ### How do you know what’s happening in the cultivators? Our cultivators are monitored to ensure we know what’s happening at all times. We can monitor the cells’ growth by watching the way they use oxygen, how much carbon dioxide they are expelling, how fast they use sugar (which tells us a lot about how fast they are growing), and other parameters that add up to a detailed picture of the entire population of cells as they grow and mature. ### When and where can I get it? Initially, you’ll be able to taste UPSIDE through our chef and restaurant partners in the US. As we’re able to produce more delicious meat with upsides for us all, we’ll continue to find restaurant and retail partners to make sure there’s UPSIDE wherever you are!