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Dive Briefing:
- Upside Foods has begun a new round of layoffs, according to a statement to Food Dive. The company is focused on the “next chapter” of scale and commercialization, a spokesperson said in a statement.
- As a result, “to maintain agility, “In the face of an uncertain macro environment, we have adjusted certain programs and reduced some positions. We deeply appreciate the hard work and dedication of our departing team members, and we remain focused on delivering cultured meat at scale around the world,” the spokesperson said. The company has suffered a series of layoffs since deciding to halt operations at its new manufacturing plant in Chicago earlier this year.
- The cultured meat industry, which will be officially allowed to enter the U.S. market in June 2023, I've been going through a lot of hardships lately.These include resistance from state lawmakers and lack of access to capital.
Dive Insight:
According to Wired, Upside CEO Uma Valeti wrote in an email to employees that 26 employees would be laid off from the company and that the executive and leadership team would be restructured to “reduce the top-heavy structure.”
“Our focus now needs to be narrowed to a more rigorous set of priorities that will pave the way for product launches over the next two years,” Valeti wrote in an email. “We need to complete the remaining work, particularly on important milestones that have not yet been met or have been delayed.”
The company tells Food Dive that it's working to expand production at its California factory, called “Epic.”
“As part of this expansion, we will be adding a larger cultivator that will demonstrate our ability to scale our process to larger and more efficient sizes while maintaining the taste, quality and safety we have consistently achieved at 2KL scale,” the spokesperson wrote.
Since being granted permission to enter the U.S. market, Upside Foods has sold its products at Dominique Crenn's restaurant Bar Crenn in San Francisco, but the restaurant has removed Upside products from its menu.
After laying off workers and shutting down operations at its “Rubicon” plant in Chicago in February, the company said it was focusing on scaling up hybrid products made from some cultured cells better suited to producing chicken nuggets, pâté and other ground meat products, as well as other alternative protein sources, instead of the entire facility.
The email reported by Wired said: Valeti also noted the challenges the industry currently faces. “Uncertainty related to political, regulatory and macroeconomic headwinds requires us to be more cautious and conscious about our focus and resources,” he wrote. In May, Florida and Alabama Law passed The sale of farmed meat was banned.
Several of the affected employees took to LinkedIn after hearing the news to say they were open to other job opportunities.
“The Good Food Institute’s chief scientist for cultured meat, Dr. Elliot Scwartz, told Food Dive in a previous interview: “Access to capital has definitely become more limited,” he said. “There is now a huge role for governments in particular to seize this opportunity and invest in research and development and aquaculture infrastructure.”
Florida's farmed meat ban officially went into effect on July 1. The night before, Upside Foods hosted a “Freedom of Food” pop-up event in Miami, Florida, where 100 people could sample farmed chicken products prepared by Chef Mika Leon.
