Cultured Meat and Future Food Podcast · Alex Shirazi

Ed Steele of Hoxton Farms

·36 min·3 clips

Ed argues that fat makes meat sizzle and brown, and Hoxton Farms grows real animal fat without the animals.

Ed Steele, co-founder of Hoxton Farms, joins the Cultured Meat and Future Food podcast to discuss his cultivated fat company. Steele, a mathematician with a machine learning and fintech background, co-founded the company with his childhood friend Max, a synthetic biologist. Their partnership combines mathematics and biology to tackle food system challenges. Hoxton Farms focuses on growing real animal fat without animals, specifically targeting pork fat for its sensory qualities. The company operates a B2B model, selling cultivated fat as an ingredient to improve plant-based meat alternatives. During the pandemic, Steele and Max independently experimented by adding traditional animal fat to homemade plant-based meats, confirming their hypothesis about fat's importance. They officially started the company in 2020 and have since grown to a team of about 45 people, having raised a publicly announced $22 million Series A. The company differentiates itself by building interdisciplinary systems, using software and mathematical modeling to optimize processes like media formulation and bioreactor design. They employ a trained sensory panel to test their fat's flavor profile and consistency. A Michelin-starred chef on their team develops prototype products, ranging from sausages to structured pork belly, using just plant protein and their cultivated fat. Steele explains that their cultivated pork fat cells naturally develop the flavor-carrying fat droplets that make meat taste authentic. He addresses common questions about health, noting they can nutritionally customize their fat, such as adjusting fatty acid ratios or adding omega-3s. The branding, developed with an Amsterdam agency, uses the tagline "proudly fatty" to playfully confront misconceptions about fat's role in flavor. Steele observes a shift in investor and consumer sentiment toward meat alternatives, which presents a current challenge for the industry. He emphasizes the importance of public education and dialogue to drive supportive policy, regardless of the specific terminology used. The episode has a conversational and educational tone, blending startup storytelling with technical explanations of cellular agriculture. Listeners interested in the intersection of food tech, biotechnology, and startup growth will find this episode compelling. Those seeking a deep dive into the consumer market or purely culinary aspects of alternative proteins might find it less directly relevant.

As heard by us

A process-first look at cultivated pork fat, Ed Steele's startup path, and how consistency gets tested.

Ed Steele's conversation with Alex moves from his mathematics and startup background into Hoxton Farms' two-step path from stem cells to fat cells.

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Why you'd press play

You want the road from math and startups to cultivated pork fat.

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