However, unlike most lab-grown meat companies targeting beef, pork, and poultry, Mogale Meat wants to create an alternative to the game meats common in local cuisine, like Kudu. “Our strategy is two-fold, namely to focus on the meat from antelope (venison), which is a lean and healthy nutritious meat,” Founder and CEO Paul Bartels tells Food Ingredients First. “Secondly, the variety of antelope species will allow us to produce novel foods, differing in taste and texture.”
Food insecurity in the region is also a driving force. “Southern Africa is plagued by undernutrition, including stunting, wasting, underweight and micronutrient deficiencies,” Bartels adds. “Meat, and more specifically cell-cultured meat, can provide some of the essential nutrient requirements. Cell culture meat derived from African antelope is a lean, healthier meat as compared to meat derived from livestock species.”
Mogale has attracted undisclosed funding from Canada’s CULT Food Science investment group as well as Sustainable Food Ventures.