Brett Thompson, Newform Foods

Newform Foods is in the cultivated meat business. This means that it grows real meat from a sample of animal cells. When I took a tour of its lab facility in Woodstock, Cape Town, I guess I was expecting it to resemble something out of a sci-fi film. That wasn’t the case, but that doesn’t make the science any less impressive.

Brett Thompson, co-founder and CEO at Newform Foods, says cultivated meat holds much potential. Not only can it address some of the macro challenges the world faces when it comes to food production, it also provides a sustainable and tasty alternative to regular meat. Here, he clarifies that his food technology company is not producing a meat alternative, but real meat. “The idea behind cultivated meat is to add something else to the plate, it’s not about forcing people to take something away,” he says.