Aleph Farms’ New Cultured Steak to Join the Cultured Meat Race

Since Dutch scientist Mark Post unveiled the first cultivated meat burger on live television in 2013, the race to create the technologies that will drive lab-grown meat into consumers’ homes has been growing. In just ten years, this niche sector went from two daring startups to more than 150 businesses.

With demand for more sustainable food options, like cultured meat, rising, Aleph Farms, one of the leading players in the industry, has revealed a new product brand as it moves towards regulatory approval later this year. The Israel-based food-tech business announced the launch of Aleph Cuts, its first product brand that will help market a cultivated “Petit Steak” grown from non-modified cells of a premium Angus cow named Lucy, which is anticipated to become the world’s first cultivated steak to launch in Singapore and Israel in late 2023.

With trailblazing support for cultivated meats, Singapore is the first country to have approved its commercial sale. The first products to hit the market were chicken nuggets and chicken breast produced by Good Meat, a subsidiary of California firm Eat Just. However, other countries are also seeking approval for the sale of cultivated products, namely Israel (injecting $18 million into a nationwide cultivated meat consortium), the United States (which is making efforts to approve the sale and consumption of cultivated meat by 2023), and several European nations like the Netherlands and Norway.

Aleph Cuts Petite Steak. Image courtesy of Aleph Farms.

As part of its expansion strategy, Aleph Farms says it’s working closely with regulatory agencies worldwide to prepare for the commercial launch of its “Petit Steak.” As with all its products, particularly cell-cultured meat, the creation process does not require raising and slaughtering livestock. Instead, Aleph Farms relies on a single fertilized egg to grow thousands of tons of cultivated meat, serving as part of what it describes as “a just and inclusive transition to sustainable and secure food systems.” The pioneering firm also developed a scalable manufacturing 3D tissue engineering platform called BioFarm, to cultivate its whole-muscle steaks.

Its 3D bioprinting technology is being developed to grow cultivated steaks of any size, including thicker and marbled steaks. Leading Aleph Farms’ 3D bioprinting group is chemistry expert Ilanit Mor. She is helping the brand use its cellular agriculture technology to grow steaks in approximately four weeks and expand the portfolio of products to include other animal cuts like lamb, pork, and chicken.

Aleph Cuts Petite Steak. Image courtesy of Aleph Farms.

Aleph Farms Vice President of Marketing Nicky Quinn describes: “With the launch of Aleph Cuts, we are introducing our product through an epicurean lens to connect people to our incredible ‘new take on steak,’ sharing what this choice means in an engaging and authentic way. Iconic brands aren’t built overnight or by one person or team. We look forward to co-creating our brand over time with consumers, so we can best serve their evolving needs.”

Simultaneously, Aleph Farms has decided to alter its brand identity. The newly revised logos for Aleph Farms and Aleph Cuts are considered part of a unified system designed to support the scale of Aleph Farms’ growing product portfolio. Developed in partnership with brand and experience design agency BOND, this branding initiative distinguishes Aleph Farms’ products and builds momentum ahead of commercialization and subsequent engagement with customers and end consumers.

“We set out to create a brand that reflects the innovative Aleph Farms team we got to know. A system that welcomed everyone to this new way of thinking about what and how we eat. We took inspiration from something universal, the food we eat daily, and the visionary Aleph Farms’ processes and passion.” said BOND Creative Director and Partner Lindsay Gravette, who oversaw the project. “The result is a pair of brands that express the practical and exceptional, bringing cultivated meat and cellular agriculture to the world.”

Aleph Cuts new visual brand. Image courtesy of Aleph Farms.

The brands are related through visual elements such as the wordmark, icon, and color palette but evoke different aspects of the Aleph ethos. For example, Aleph Farms is considered more “pragmatic,” focusing on technology and innovation. At the same time, Aleph Cuts’ letters showcase more of an “emotional” feel that conveys a sense of education about the product and celebration of the food. In addition, both share a new icon inspired by the company’s previous ox head symbol, reflected in the letter A in Aleph but flipped, creating a mirror effect that compels the viewer to see familiar things in a new way.

According to Aleph Farms, the “newly evolved brand identity reflects the company’s consumer-centric focus and commitment to innovation and demonstrates the organization’s growth from a pre-revenue company to commercializing their first product. The new brand frames a new category through an epicurean-inspired lens to connect consumers to its ‘new take on steak.”

Aleph Farms’ new visual brand. Image courtesy of Aleph Farms.

Founded in 2017, the company utilized cellular agriculture technology to unveil the world’s first cultivated thin-cut steak in 2018; the world’s first cultivated ribeye steak in 2021 by printing additive layers of cow muscle and fat cells on a plant protein matrix made from peas; cultivated collagen in 2022; and once regulatory approval is complete, it would bring to market the world’s first cultivated steak. That’s a lot of firsts for one company. However, like its competitors, Aleph Farms knows that competition is getting fierce. Other brands like Steakholder Foods revealed the largest lab-grown steak in December 2021, and this year, Zürich-based startup Mirai Foods created the world’s first cultivated tenderloin steak. Luckily, there’s plenty of room for competing cell-based meats, especially considering that forecasts anticipate at least 30% of the worldwide meat market in 2040 will be made up of cultured meat products.