Interview with... Krijn de Nood, Co-Founder & CEO at Meatable

1) What inspired the foundation of Meatable?
During an Erasmus philosophy course in Barcelona, I came across the philosophy of animal rights activist Peter Singer and realised that there was a huge ethical problem - around slaughtering animals for food- about which little was being done. This insight stayed with me for years. After leaving McKinsey I planned to take a year off, but I quickly met Daan Luining and Mark Kotter. Daan had a great idea, Mark had a distinctive technology and I had the commercial insight to do something with the ethical problem. Together we founded Meatable. Industrial meat farming is unsustainable. To turn around climate change, the prevent future pandemics, to reduce animal suffering, to feed 10bn people and to optimize water use, we need to turn to alternative protein solutions. I am motivated by being part of that change.

2) What potential do you see in demand for cultivated meat?
The product billions of people around the world love, without any of the drawbacks! It is amazing to see how people’s stance towards cultivated meat has changed in the past few years, understanding that the current way we are producing our meat is not sustainable. And more and more people are getting excited about the solution cultivated meat can bring to their plates.

3) What are your plans for growth?
We want to make a significant contribution to solving the issues, as listed in the first question, so you can imagine our ambitions are BIG. Looking at climate change in particular, and the need and urgency felt globally to make a change, our meat needs to at least match the prices for conventional meat. But before our products will hit the stores, we need to reach several milestones. After successfully completing our very first pork sausage, our prototype, end of 2020 and reaching a funding total of more than $60M to date (including a grant from the European Union, funded by the European commission in 2019), we are now working hard to have our small-scale production facility ready as soon as possible. After that, we want to have our products available in stores by 2025.

4) How do you see Meatable being able to transform the meat industry's impact on climate change and animal welfare?
Although our meat is being seen as an alternative protein, we see ourselves also being part of the meat industry as a whole. We are working on a new, sustainable way to produce meat, because we believe there is room for a more animal and planet friendly way. People enjoy eating meat and it is an important source of protein. It’s a trillion dollar industry that continues to grow, 2% year on year until 2050 is the prediction. We believe there is room for (much) more sustainably produced meat and we are convinced the market for sustainably produced meat, plus traditional, cultured meat or otherwise, will continue to grow. With our product, people will be able to enjoy real meat, without any of the drawbacks associated with industrial farming. No animals are killed, fewer emissions are released, and significantly less land and water are required. Because of this, we feel confident that people will also want to include our meat in their diet, as soon as they had the chance to experience it..