Joes Future Food unveils China's first cultivated pork belly

©Joes Future Food

Recently, at the New Technology Conference held in Nanjing National Agricultural High-tech Industrial Demonstration Zone, China's first cultivated pork belly tasting meeting was held. This development, showcased by domestic start-up company Joes Future Food, was unveiled at the Second Cultured Meat New Product Tasting Ceremony during the conference.

The red and white slices of meat lay flat on the plate as if they had just been cut. "This type of cultured meat extracts stem cells from animals and then cultivates them in a bioreactor, that is, using animal cells to 'seed' meat," said Ding Shijie, CEO of Nanjing Joes Future Food. Professor Zhou Guanghong of the Nanjing Agricultural University concluded that people will be able to eat pork without raising pigs. He stated that cultivated meat, such as that presented by Joes, is the “answer to national strategies of sustainable development and low-carbon agriculture”.

©Joes Future Food

According to GFI Consultancy, interest in fermented and cultivated proteins is rising considerably in China as the country seeks to improve its sustainability and become more self-sufficient. The country’s investors are increasingly targeting the alt-protein sector, and Chinese fermentation companies have raised a total of 80 million yuan ($11.9 million) since 2020.