Press Release - FDA Clearance
Mission Barns announces upcoming Retail Launch & first Restaurant Partnership for Cultivated Bacon & Meatballs, following FDA Clearance
San Francisco, CA – March 7, 2025
Mission Barns, a food company focused on cultivating meat for a more secure food system, today announced its upcoming retail launch & first restaurant partnership for its first products for sale. This milestone follows the company’s regulatory clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its cell-cultivated pork fat. Fiorella, a leading Italian restaurant group in the San Francisco Area, is Mission Barns’ first restaurant launch partner. Mission Barns also plans to sell in retail starting at a national supermarket chain, which will become the first grocery store in the US to sell cultivated meat. These destinations will be making history as the first places to offer cultivated pork products for sale anywhere in the world.
“Food security and the health of our food system is a big challenge we are tackling at Mission Barns. We are expecting 1.7 billion more humans on our planet in the next 25 years and we need to innovate in order to find more efficient ways to produce delicious food products to feed the world. First and foremost, consumers won’t eat food that isn’t absolutely delicious—which is why we chose to pursue a fat-first approach,” said Eitan Fischer, founder and CEO of Mission Barns. “Not only is fat the main driver of flavor and juiciness, but it is also less costly and faster to produce than lean meat. We believe in giving consumers more choice—people looking for delicious, healthy, and responsibly produced meat are excited to try our products. By advancing cultivated meat production, we are helping to create a more resilient and reliable food system and reinforcing American leadership in food innovation.”
Mission Barns’ pioneering products make it possible to enjoy real pork without the animal. The company’s flagship products, Italian Style Cultivated Meatballs and Applewood Smoked Cultivated Bacon, are made with cultivated pork fat and plant protein, requiring only a single animal component–a harmless sample taken from a pig–which is grown using plant-based nutrients in a cultivator. One sample could produce the same amount of meat as millions of farm animals, enabling the company to improve food security and create a world with fewer greenhouse gas emissions, reduced land and water usage, and free from animal harm—all while mitigating risks associated with disease outbreaks in livestock.
Mission Barns’ first restaurant group partner is Fiorella. Fiorella’s co-founder Brandon Gillis is acutely aware of the issues the food system faces today, including food security and animal-borne diseases. He was impressed with Mission Barns’ ability to address these issues while delivering the flavor and juiciness customers expect from traditional meatballs and bacon.
“From the ability to source some of my favorite local ingredients to the prices on our menus, the vulnerability of our global food supply chain impacts every aspect of my business,” said Brandon Gillis, co-founder at Fiorella. “I’ve been keeping tabs on the cultivated meat industry as a potential solution, and after meeting with Mission Barns and tasting its products, I wanted to make sure we created a partnership for this historic moment.”
Mission Barns is the first company in the world to receive regulatory clearance for cell-cultivated pork fat. The company received a “No Questions” letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)–indicating that the agency has completed its rigorous evaluation of Mission Barns’ safety assessment for its cultivated pork fat. Following previous clearances issued for cultivated chicken, this marks a historic first—both for cultivated pork and for cultivated fat—setting a new precedent in the industry. In its response, the FDA stated that it has no further questions regarding Mission Barns’ conclusion that products made with its cultivated pork fat “are as safe as comparable foods.”
About Mission Barns
Mission Barns is a food company based in San Francisco. Founded in 2018, the company is producing cultivated meat for a more resilient and abundant food system with less land, energy, and water usage— all while reducing the risk of animal-borne diseases. For more information visit MissionBarns.com.
Company Contact
Mission Barns