Meat+Poultry - February 2020 - 11

Memphis
Meats plans
pilot plant
Berkley, California-based Memphis Meats
plans to use $161 million from a series B
funding round to build a pilot production
facility as well as grow its workforce and
bring cell-based meats to market. Memphis
Meats has raised more than $180 million
in total.
Softbank Group, Norwest and
Singapore-based Temasek led the funding
round. New and existing investors that
contributed to the round include Richard
Branson, Bill Gates, Threshold Ventures,
Cargill, Tyson Foods, Finistere, Future
Ventures, Kimbal Musk, Fifty Years and
CPT Capital.
"The reality is that conventional
production methods for meat can't keep up
with global demand, which is expected to
double by 2050," said Priti Youssef Choksi,
partner at Norwest Venture Partners.
"Cell-based meat addresses this issue while
offering enormous potential to improve the
environment and have a positive impact on
food safety and animal welfare. Memphis

FMI launches rebrand
The Food Marketing Institute (FMI) has
rebranded as FMI - The Food Industry
Association. The brand refresh reflects
the organization's expanded membership
which represents a more interconnected
supply chain.
"FMI provides the most productive
forum for connecting and holding constructive dialogue across the food industry," said Leslie Sarasin, FMI president
and CEO. "Driven by consumer relevance,
we are in the business of food, wherever
it is bought, sold or produced, and we are
well-positioned to represent everything in
the shopping basket - and work closely
with every participant in the marketplace."
FMI was formed 40 years ago with the
merger of the Super Market Institute and
the National Association of Food Chains.

Meats is on a mission to serve up real meat
without the compromise. We are thrilled to
partner with this visionary team."
The company has not set a date for
product launch, however work with
regulatory agencies is ongoing to ensure
"a timely and safe market entry," the
company said.
"We are excited to welcome these
investors into our Big Tent," said Uma
Valeti, MD, co-founder and CEO of
Memphis Meats. "Memphis Meats is
revolutionizing how meat is brought to
every table around the world. We are
providing compelling and delicious choices
by producing real meat from animal cells,
its natural building blocks. Cell-based meat
is poised to dramatically expand humanity's capacity to feed a growing global
population while preserving our culinary
traditions and protecting our planet."

But the organization of today represents
retailers, producers and a wide variety of
companies providing industry services.
FMI - The Food Industry Association
represents a renewed focus on the array of
experiences of today's grocery shopper.
"Over the last two years, we've inspired
a recommitment, a renewal of vows
among the FMI membership," said Board
of Directors Chairman Joe Sheridan,
president and COO of Wakefern Food
Corp. "We've even changed who can be
a member in the association as a logical
step in a direction we've been traveling
for years, offering greater parity between
retailers and their product supplier partner
members at the board of directors level. As
our customers change, so do our industry
and our association to better serve and
reflect their needs."

Tyson invests
in Instant Pot
meal kits
Tyson Foods Inc.,
Springdale, Arkansas,
has partnered with
Instant Brands Inc. to
develop new Tyson
Instant Pot Kits.
Designed to cook in
the Instant Pot in 20 minutes, the fully prepared
kits contain Tyson 100
percent natural chicken
with no antibiotics ever,
premium long-grain rice
and sauces. The kits
come in three culinaryinspired varieties: Hatch
Green Chile Chicken and
Rice Casserole, Cajun
Style Chicken and Rice,
and Teriyaki Chicken
and Rice.
"We know lack
of time is one of the
biggest reasons people
go to a restaurant or
order out, which was
the inspiration behind
creating our fully
prepped meal kits," said
Steve Silzer, marketing
director for the Tyson
brand. "By combining
our expertise in chicken
with Instant Pot's
credibility in cookware,
we're able to bring a
fresh meal to the table
that's culinary-inspired,
stress-free and fast."
Tyson Instant Pot
Kits are rolling out in
select retailers now and
are slated to launch
nationwide this spring.

For more news,
visit MEATPOULTRY.com

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Meat+Poultry - February 2020

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