We are pleased to announce that Organoid Farm Inc., a group company of JGC Holdings Corporation, has demonstrated medium-scale (200 L) culturing of cell-based food - cultured meat - marking a success in the processes from cultivation to recovery of bovine muscle cells. With demonstration from a 200 L bioreactor on the largest scale for cell-based food in Japan, this represents a significant advance over lab experiments on a scale of several liters, and it has yielded culture process data for commercial production and established the technical basis for scaling up and reducing costs.

Both greater demand for meat from global population growth and commitments to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 are driving the need to develop more sustainable meat production. In response to this higher meat demand, the cell-based food industry faces an urgent challenge to establish cell culture processes that are both scalable and more economical.

In this verification testing, an animal cell bioreactor of the JGC R&D Center in Oarai, Ibaraki, was used for a difficult-to-culture bovine muscle cell line in a suspension culture process without cell culture scaffold materials.* On the first attempt, proliferated bovine muscle cells were successfully obtained after culturing in a clean environment over the first two months of 2026. Organoid Farm developed and patented the cell line, which, unlike ordinary bovine muscle cells, is notable for continuing to proliferate without stopping during cell division. This characteristic may one day enable higher production volume. Additionally, eliminating the need for scaffold materials promises to make this production more economical, with lower raw material costs and a simpler recovery process. Simplifying the culture environment also enables uniform agitation and a stable culture supporting cell proliferation, besides streamlining operation in tasks such as equipment cleaning or sterilization.

* Scaffold materials in the context of cell culture provide support for cell attachment and growth. Although these particles, gel-like substances, or other materials do support cell growth, they sometimes make preparation and recovery more complex and costly.

Organoid Farm research and development to date has led to this proven scaling-up method that uses suspension culture without scaffold materials, as well as bovine muscle cell lines improved with advanced, patented biotechnology. Combining these technologies and assets with the JGC Group's method of scaling up with animal cell culture bioreactors and Group engineering expertise gained in the fields of pharmaceuticals and regenerative medicine, the company has worked toward goals such as industrial production of cell-based foods.

As the JGC Group continues to verify culture efficiency, we will seek collaborative opportunities with strategic partners with a view to building a proving ground for the practical adoption of cell-based food products backed by established technologies. Looking ahead, a new site to accelerate scale-up demonstration testing and prototype development for commercial production will open in 2028.

• NEWS inquiries - Click here

• News Releases