Award Winning Beef Producer Finnebrogue Will Develop Cultivated Wagyu With Ivy Farm

U.K.-based food industry giant Finnebrogue and food tech startup Ivy Farm Technologies have just embarked on a world-first mission to offer cultivated Wagyu beef burgers to the British market.

The groundbreaking collaboration will leverage Finnebrogue’s award-winning Wagyu cattle and Ivy Farm’s cultivated meat expertise to meet the demand for Wagyu meat while also reducing the environmental toll of its production.

Award-winning Wagyu

The partnership comes after Finnebrogue’s Wagyu beef burger was hailed as the best burger in the U.K. by Which? magazine last year. The new venture aims to deliver cultivated Wagyu beef from cells taken from Finnebrogue’s own high-grade Wagyu cattle herd, housed at the Finnegbrogue estate in County Down, Northern Ireland. The cells will be cultivated at Ivy Farm’s 18,000 sq. ft. facility in Oxford, mirroring a craft beer brewery setup.

“Appetite from consumers for sustainable and delicious meat has never been higher,” Rich Dillon, CEO at Ivy Farm said in a statement. “This new collaboration with Finnebrogue showcases how cultivated meat can work with traditional farming, helping to reduce the pressure on producers to intensify operations to meet growing demand, while boosting consumer choice. In Finnebrogue we have found a partner who has a long history and track record of producing premium products that do not compromise on taste and quality,” Dillon said.

Ivy Farm has produced British pork and Aberdeen Angus beef. The companies say Ivy Farm and Finnebrogue could also expand to include cultivated meat from Finnebrogue’s world renowned venison. Currently only the U.S. and Singapore have approved cultivated meat for sale and consumption.

Ivy Farm’s state-of-the-art cultivation process will provide a viable, sustainable means for Finnebrogue to meet the surging demand for its Wagyu beef, yielding large quantities of the meat while significantly diminishing its carbon footprint.

Evolving protein

“Finnebrogue is best known for its agenda-setting innovation,” Jago Pearson, Chief Strategy Officer at Finnebrogue said. “Whether it be our revolutionary nitrite-free bacon, famous Oisin venison, our award-winning Wagyu burgers or more recently the delicious plant-based alternatives we are producing from Europe’s leading vegan food facility, we have never been bound by the way food has always been produced, nor have we been tied to a single protein.”

The cultivated Wagyu beef will join Ivy Farm’s current line of British pork and Aberdeen Angus beef. This endeavour could potentially pave the way for future innovations, including the cultivation of venison from Finnebrogue’s world-famous stock.

“Our task is always to make food that is nutritious, delicious, and sustainable for food-loving consumers up and down the land,” Pearson said. “Ivy Farm will be cultivating Wagyu beef from cells derived from the herd we keep on our Finnebrogue Estate in County Down, Northern Ireland. In time, we are excited to help realise the potential this may bring in producing sustainable food that can feed a growing global population.”