Modern Meadow, Leaders In Growing Meat, May Come To Brooklyn
Scientist Mark Post holding his petri dish beef patty. Photo via National Geographic
As many of you may remember (and subsequently tried to forget), last August, Maastricht University’s Mark Post debuted the first petri dish burger in London. It was…a sight to behold. A chef tossed the $325,000 patty in a frying pan and served it to two taste testers who deemed its flavor “close to meat.”
Strangely enough, that inspired confidence and the biotech meat industry continues to grow. Currently, most of the meat growing is being done in Boston and California, but now Brooklyn may join the club. Crain’s New York reports that Modern Meadow, a Missouri-based company, is looking to open up labs in the BioBAT research park at the Brooklyn Army Terminal, which boasts 500,000 square feet of commercial biotech space.
Why is Modern Meadow choosing Brooklyn, or even New York City? To be close to the fashion and dining industries. The company grows leather as well as in-vitro meat.
“New York is the center of the fashion industry in the U.S., and one of the most exciting and creative food environments,”Chief Executive Andras Forgacs told Crain’s. “We look forward to working with talent on both fronts.”
At the moment, Forgacs is hoping for tax cuts, a reasonable lease and receptive industries (he admits that he’s already schmoozing folks in the fashion world). If all goes well, the lab could be open by summer and New Yorkers could be chowing down on bioburgers and sporting lab leather in a few years’ time.
Welcome to the future, Brooklyn.
Follow Nikita Richardson on Twitter @nikitarbk
