Cargill, an American food company headquartered in Minnetonka, Minnesota, announced on May 15 that it plans to supplement its emphasis with animal protein and invests in Aleph Farms, a company that grows sophisticated meats such as steak.

Cargill is participating in the Series A investment round, which has also been joined by several other investors seeking to transfer Aleph Farms from the prototype to the commercial market.

Aleph Farms grows meat directly from beef cages using a 3D platform for tissue engineering. In December 2018, the company for the first time in the world demonstrated that it can grow beef steak directly from bull cells.

“Cargill is committed to innovation, and we are excited to be part of Aleph’s accelerated growth,” said Sonya Roberts, Managing Director of Business Development and Strategic Pricing, Cargill Protein North America.

Aleph Farms plans to start building bio-farms and move on to a limited production of consumer goods with steak grown under controlled conditions for three to five years.

Cargill is also an investor in vegetable protein through Puris, which launched a new organic and non-allergenic pea-based protein, plus GMO-free. These investments complement the company's investment in its traditional portfolio of animal proteins, which over the past few years amounted to more than $ 1.5 billion.

“We believe in the power of protein and the important role that animal protein will continue to play in the nutrition of the world in the long run,” said John Nash, president of Cargill Protein-North America.