Cultivated Pork Fat by Mission Barns: status and timeline

Cultivated Pork Fat

Cultivated pork fat that is blended with plant proteins to create hybrid meat products. The cell-cultured fat provides flavor, texture and nutritional properties of pork while reducing reliance on animal agriculture.

DeployStage 4 of 5

FDA-cleared and USDA-approved. Commercial launch ongoing through restaurant and retail partners.

Updated 3 Nov 2025Checked 10 Oct0 updates this week

Milestones

Next · Scale production in San Francisco facility

FDA clearance for cultivated pork fatMar 2025Complete.
USDA approval and inspection clearanceJul 2025Complete.
Restaurant launch at Fiorella (meatballs)3 Nov 2025Complete.
Retail launch at Berkeley Bowl (meatballs)Nov 2025Complete.
Scale production in San Francisco facilityTarget 2026Current milestone.

Most important updates

Upcoming

2026Scale production in San Francisco facility (next)
2027Expand product portfolio

Current obstacles

Production costCurrent production costs remain above conventional pork fat, requiring further process optimization to compete at scale.
Consumer acceptanceEducating consumers about hybrid cultivated-plant products and their benefits requires ongoing marketing and tastings.

Physics limits

Cell division rate is limited by biologyPork fat cells divide more slowly than muscle cells, which limits the speed at which biomass can accumulate in bioreactors, affecting production throughput.
Fat yield per cell is fixed by metabolismFat cells store triglycerides at a biochemical rate determined by their metabolic capacity; nutrient availability and growth conditions set ceilings on per-cell yield.

How it works

3 parts

Cell Culture

Grow fat cells in bioreactors

Pork fat cells are cultured in pharmaceutical-grade bioreactors that mimic the pig's body, allowing cells to divide and accumulate fat molecules naturally.

Harvest

Extract cultivated fat

The cultured fat is harvested from the growth medium and processed into a usable ingredient ready for food products.

Blend

Mix with plant proteins

Cultivated pork fat combines with plant-based proteins (pea, wheat, fava) to create sensory and nutritional meat properties.

Spec sheet

Spec	Cultivated Pork Fat
Cell Source	Yorkshire pig belly fat cells, non-GMO^R (reported)
Cholesterol Content	Lower than conventional pork fat^R (reported)
Antibiotic-free	Yes^R (reported)

^R reported by the company

Update log

4 updates

About Mission Barns

The team behind Cultivated Pork Fat

Mission Barns

Cultivated pork fat, hybrid meat-plant proteins

Mission Barns develops cultivated meat from pork fat blended with plant proteins. FDA-cleared in March 2025, the first US approval for cultivated meat ingredients.

FDA clearance March 2025, first US approval for cultivated meat ingredients.
Products: meatballs and bacon blending Mission Fat with plant proteins.
Uses pharma-grade bioreactors to grow pork fat cells, then blends with plant protein.

missionbarns.com (opens missionbarns.com)Company profile →

Founded: 20188 yrs
Headquarters: United States
Status: Private
Valuation: private
Staff: ~90
Raised: $24M1 round
Last round: Series A · $24MApr 2021
Works in: AgricultureCultivated meat
Coverage: 1 program · 4 updateslatest 3 Nov 2025checked 10 Oct
Lead investors: Agronomics
Customers: Fiorella (opens fiorella-sf.com)Berkeley Bowl (opens berkeleybowl.com)
People: Eitan Fischer (opens missionbarns.com)CEO

Spec

Cultivated Pork Fat

Cell Source

Yorkshire pig belly fat cells, non-GMO^R (reported)

Cholesterol Content

Lower than conventional pork fat^R (reported)

Antibiotic-free

Yes^R (reported)

Cultivated Pork Fat

Milestones

Most important updates

Upcoming

Current obstacles

Physics limits

How it works

Grow fat cells in bioreactors

Extract cultivated fat

Mix with plant proteins

Spec sheet

Update log

Mon 3 Nov 2025

Sat 1 Nov 2025

Jul 2025

Mar 2025

About Mission Barns

Current obstacles

Physics limits

How it works

Grow fat cells in bioreactors

Extract cultivated fat

Mix with plant proteins

Spec sheet

Update log

Mon 3 Nov 2025

Sat 1 Nov 2025

Jul 2025

Mar 2025

About Mission Barns