Welcome to the Arena from ICR – Conversations with Today's Innovators & Business Leaders Jeff "Trip" Tripician, CEO, Meatable – A Shared Plate: Shaping a sustainable future for the meat industry through partnership
Summary:
In some industries, new players try to shake things up by breaking them down. But in sectors like food, where traditions run deep and habits are hard to change, collaboration can be a far more palatable strategy and can be leveraged to create scalable, sustainable solutions. Today's guest is doing just that, using decades of industry expertise to partner with key players, tackle global challenges, and redefine what’s possible for the future of food.
Jeff "Trip" Tripician is the CEO of Meatable, a Dutch biotech company dedicated to the development of cultivated meat products. Trip is an industry veteran with more than 25 years of experience in the organic and natural meat industry in the U.S.
He most recently served as CEO of Grass Fed Foods and, prior to that, as President of Perdue Premium Meat Company. Trip also brings extensive experience across the U.S. meat market with deep expertise in the U.S. supply chain, marketing of sustainable meat products, fundraising, and M&A. In fact, at Grass Fed Foods, Trip orchestrated a successful merger between Teton Waters Ranch and SunFed Ranch, which positioned the company as the foremost regeneratively focused grass-fed beef platform in the U.S.
During his time at Perdue Premium Meat Company, he spearheaded the company's growth and premium meat brands, such as Niman Ranch and
Coleman Natural, among others. Notably, he oversaw the acquisition and integration of Panorama Organic Grass-fed Meats and Alexander & Hornung.
In this episode, Trip shares how his background in the traditional meat industry shaped his work at Meatable. We dive into the cultivated meat-making process and the nuances of producing different cuts and types of meat. Trip also discusses the challenges the industry is facing, from scaling production and licensing to food security and navigating regulatory hurdles.
Highlights:
- Trip's history in the meat industry and journey into cultivated meat (3:34)
- Trip describes what drew him to his role at Meatable (4:51)
- Population growth and the increasing global demand for meat (6:40)
- How investor mindset in cultivated meat has changed over time (7:49)
- The science behind cultivating different cuts of meat (9:53)
- Current cultivated meat projects and innovations at Meatable (12:04)
- Meatable's business model and how it has evolved (14:26)
- Public reception to cultivated meat and industry hurdles (17:57)
- Trip describes the value of spreading awareness and education about cultivated meat (22:39)
- Future scalability and current field economics (25:16)
Links:
Jeff Tripician on LinkedIn
Feedback:
If you have questions about the show, or have a topic in mind you'd like discussed in future episodes, email our producer, marion@lowerstreet.co.