Tech Startup JUST Exec Starts New Cultured-Meat Brand

Ilan Eitan Fischer (known as “Eitan Fischer”) recently left his position as the director of cellular agriculture at food-technology startup JUST to start his own company. Last month, Fischer filed documents to incorporate Mission Barns, Inc., a forthcoming company based in Berkeley, CA that is expected to produce “clean” or “cultured” meat—slaughter-free meat grown from a small amount of animal cells in a laboratory setting. “Many of the leaders of the clean-meat industry are focused on making clean meat available and growing market share as quickly as possible,” Sentience Institute think-tank founder Jacy Reece told media outlet Gizmodo. “There’s tons of room for more companies in the space, so this will inevitably mean some leaders leave larger companies to start new ones.” The clean-meat space is currently occupied by a handful of companies—including Silicon Valley-based Memphis Meats, Europe-based MosaMeat, and Israel-based SuperMeat—that plan to debut their first products in the coming years, with JUST aiming to be the first company to deliver slaughter-free meat to consumers by the end of 2018.