Cultured Meat and Future Food Podcast · Alex Shirazi

Jim Mellon of Agronomics

·25 min·1 clip

Jim Mellon says the U.S. approved cultivated foods faster than expected, but scaling production is the real challenge.

1. Cultured meat and future food are the focus of Cultured Meat and Future Food Podcast episode “Jim Mellon of Agronomics.” 2. Alex hosts Jim Mellon, the author, entrepreneur, investor, and chairman-style backer of Agronomics, a firm focused on cellular agriculture. 3. The episode asks what Agronomics is betting on, how cellular agriculture is progressing, and where regulation and commercialization may go next. 4. Mellon says he studied philosophy, politics, and economics at Oxford, worked in Hong Kong and San Francisco, and later ran his own fund-management company. 5. He explains that biotech led him into novel proteins because the techniques come from biotech and because his household does not eat meat. 6. Mellon says he wrote Moose Law during the pandemic by interviewing key opinion leaders in the sector. 7. He says that book became the basis of Agronomics’ investment strategy and that the company invests only in cellular agriculture, not plant-based foods. 8. Mellon connects his animal welfare views to Juno’s Ark, the children’s book he wrote, and says he and his family keep seven dogs at home. 9. He describes Agronomics as a London-listed investment company based in the Isle of Man with about $200 million in assets. 10. He says the company’s asset value per share has roughly quadrupled since launch, the share price has more than doubled, and he has never sold a share. 11. Mellon says the cellular agriculture investable universe has grown from about 30 companies to about 300 in four years. 12. He names BlueNalu, Vitro Labs, Meatable, and Mosa Meat as examples of companies Agronomics backed early. 13. He explains that Agronomics also backs founders at earlier stages through new companies such as Good Dog Food, Clean Foods Group, and Liberation Labs. 14. He says Good Dog Food is aiming to put cell-cultured meat into the UK pet-food market by the end of the year. 15. He says the pet-food market is about 25% of the meat market in the U.S. and UK, which he treats as a large commercial opening. 16. Mellon says Clean Foods Group is producing palm oil in laboratories and Liberation Labs is building a $115 million plant in Indiana for precision fermentation companies. 17. Mellon says he prefers to “try and fail fast,” and he contrasts quick shutdowns with long-running programs that still may reach approval. 18. He gives the example of a shoe for diabetic foot ulcers, saying it can cure at least 70% of tractable cases against a 50% standard of care. 19. The interview is conversational, lightly promotional in tone, and packed with concrete numbers, company names, and regulatory references. 20. People interested in cellular agriculture, food-tech investing, or novel proteins should listen; casual listeners who want no investing detail may skip it.

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