Aleph Farms, an Israel-based cultivated-meat business, has made nearly a third of its employees redundant.
Some 30 people have been laid off out of a workforce of around 100.
The news comes just four months after Aleph Farms revealed it had partnered with two companies to produce its meat, grown in a lab from cells, at a new facility in Thailand.
News of the redundancies came from Israel-based technology news website Ctech, which suggested the move is linked to the difficulty cell-based meat firms have had in securing significant investment over the past year.
However, Aleph Farms did not confirm nor deny this when it was put to the company by Just Food.
Instead, it issued a statement saying: “As we transition towards larger-scale production and commercialisation, we are maintaining R&D and production in Israel while expanding globally through co-manufacturers, in line with our capital-efficient and asset-light approach.
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“We are adapting our organisation to align with this next growth phase and need to part ways with approximately 30% of our local employees. We care for all affected employees and will be supporting them in the new job search.”
In its February announcement about production in Thailand, Aleph Farms said it expected to be able to produce just under 1,000 tons of cultivated beef in the first year of operations at the site.
In January, it received regulatory approval in Israel to sell steak grown from cow cells and revealed plans to debut its Petit Steak hybrid cultured-meat and plant-based ingredients product in “select restaurants”.
The company has also sought regulatory approval in the UK and Switzerland.
Aleph Farms is reputed to have raised $140m in investment with backers including Brazilian meat giant BRF, seafood major Thai Union Group and Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio.
The business was founded in 2017 by Didier Toubia, Dr. Neta Lavon, Professor Shulamit Levenberg and the Kitchen FoodTech Hub (a partnership of the Strauss Group and the Israel Innovation Authority).
