Mission Barns makes first US retail sale of cultivated pork

Mission Barns has officially conducted the United States’ first retail sale of cultivated meat, offering its pork meatballs to shoppers at Berkeley Bowl West in California.

The San Francisco-based company held the one-day event on November 1 at the independent grocery store on Heinz Avenue, where its 304-gram packs of eight frozen pork meatballs were priced at US$13.99.

Customers were limited to one pack each as the company made a small batch available for the launch.

This sale followed Mission Barns’ earlier introduction of its cultivated meatballs and bacon at Fiorella restaurant in San Francisco’s Sunset District, which took place two months prior.

The company used the launch to kick off Bites from the Barn, a monthly public tasting series hosted at Berkeley Bowl West to showcase its cultivated pork products.

Public Tasting Events Feature Cultivated Meatballs and Salami

The Bites from the Barn series, promoted as the largest free-to-the-public cultivated meat tasting in the country, is designed to let consumers sample Mission Barns’ products while learning about the technology behind them.

Each event includes cooking demonstrations and discussions with the company’s scientists, who explain how the cultivated pork fat used in the meatballs is produced.

The first tasting on November 1 featured the cultivated meatballs, while the second, set for December 12, will highlight the company’s Italian-style dry-cured salami.

Two more tasting sessions are planned for January 16 and February 21, both focusing again on the meatballs.

As part of the opening event, one meatball pack contained a golden ticket, granting its buyer an exclusive tour and tasting experience at Mission Barns’ San Francisco facility.

Berkeley Bowl’s head meat buyer, Anthony LeBlanc, said the store has worked with Mission Barns for years and described the cultivated pork fat products as an appealing option for both meat lovers and flexitarian shoppers.

He noted that Berkeley Bowl has long been known for introducing innovative food brands and said the team was proud to be the first US retailer to carry cultivated pork.

Mission Barns Collaborates with Tufts on Consumer Research

Mission Barns creates its pork fat by cultivating belly fat cells from American Yorkshire pigs in bioreactors to produce what it calls Mission Fat.

This fat is blended with ingredients such as pea protein, coconut oil, Italian seasonings, and other binding agents to produce hybrid meat products like meatballs, bacon, sausages, and salami.

The ingredient list identifies Mission Fat as a mix of purified water, cell-cultivated pork fat cells, and kosher salt.

According to the company, combining cultivated fat with plant-based components allows for lower production costs and more efficient scaling without sacrificing flavor.

Mission Barns is also partnering with researchers from the Tufts University Center for Cellular Agriculture to collect real-world consumer feedback during the tasting series to inform future studies on public perception of cultivated meat.

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