Memphis Meats has changed its name to Upside Foods and the cultured meat company plans to bring chicken — its first consumer product — to the market this year.
Upside is a San Francisco Bay company founded in 2015. It’s local tie is Will Clem, owner of Baby Jack’s BBQ in Bartlett. He also cofounded Memphis Meats and was one of the company’s tissue engineers. The company chose the original “Memphis Meats” name “as a way to pay homage to Memphis’ barbecue culture,” according to a 2016 Memphis Flyer story by Bianca Phillips.
“We wanted to bring the strength of innovation from Silicon Valley and the meat-loving culture of Memphis together,” company cofounder and former cardiologist Uma Valeti said at the time.
The company introduced the world to the its lab-cultured meatball in 2016 with aspirations to do hamburgers, sausages, and hot dogs. Since then, the company attracted high-profile investors like Bill Gates, Richard Branson, and Kimble Musk. Seven rounds of funding have brought in more than $181 million for the company, according to Crunchbase.
The name change to Upside Foods “communicates our passion and potential to make our favorite foods healthier for the planet,” said Valeti, who is now the company’s CEO.
“Our new name showcases the work we are doing to make eating meat a force for good,” Valeti said. “We can’t wait for consumers to try our Upside chicken soon. If you love chicken and the planet, Upside is for you.”
However, regulations on lab-cultured meat are still hazy in the U.S. So far, Singapore is the only country that has approved the sale of lab-grown meats. That move emboldened companies like Upside Foods to push harder on a consumer launch. So, while its news release this week claimed its chicken product would be available this year, the statement came with a “pending regulatory review” caveat.
The company chose chicken for its first consumer product because “it is quickly becoming the meat of choice for consumers around the world, and its versatility lends itself to a diverse set of recipes and culinary applications spanning geographic regions and styles.”
Upside’s products differ from those like the Beyond Meat products now common in grocery store coolers. Beyond Meat’s products are plant-based. Upside’s products will be grown completely from animal cells and its chicken “is real meat cultivated without the need to raise an animal.”
Upside recently broke ground on a pilot production plant in the San Francisco Bay area to produce, package, and ship its products all under one roof.
The company said meat demand is expected to double in the next 30 years. Meeting this demand is “unsustainable” with current production methods. The company is also vying for a slice of what it says is a $1.4 trillion global market for meat.
“We want to become the preferred brand for the next generation of meat lovers,” said Maria Occarina Macedo, director of brand and creative at Upside Foods. “And we wanted our brand to reflect the essence of what our product and company is all about: delicious, sustainable and humane meat for everyone. The future of food is all about activating the upside.”
