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224: From Cultivated Meat to Chocolate: Rethinking Cellular Agriculture Scale-Up with Steven Lang - Part 2
Episode 224
Wednesday, 28 January, 2026
The cultivated meat industry has captured headlines and struggled with economics. Meanwhile, plant cell biomanufacturing is quietly solving the cost equation and approaching commercial launch. The question isn't whether cellular agriculture can work at scale. It's which applications will get there first, and what bioprocessing innovations will make it possible.In Part 2, we dive into the commercialization challenges that separate laboratory curiosity from market-ready products. Steven Lang tackles the hard questions: How do you replicate chocolate's complex flavor profile without traditional fermentation? What analytical infrastructure ensures product consistency and safety? And how do you build the right team and data foundation to navigate the journey from premium launch to commodity-scale production?Steven's background spanning Johnson & Johnson, Genentech, and Upside Foods gives him a unique perspective on what works and what doesn't when translating biopharma rigor to food applications. At California Cultured, he's applying those lessons to launch high-flavanol cocoa powder in 2026, with a clear roadmap to commodity cocoa and coffee thereafter.In this episode:The challenge of replicating chocolate’s taste and fermentation in the lab (02:39)How plant cell culture differs from conventional farming and its advantages for safety and scalability (03:03)Analytical methods and equipment needed for consistent, safe, and high-quality cultured cocoa products (05:05)The potential for cell-based food to minimize heavy metals and other contaminants in chocolate (06:09)Environmental implications: tackling climate change, deforestation, and the realistic timeline for widespread adoption of lab-grown foods (06:50)Emerging opportunities beyond cocoa and coffee—saffron, ginseng, echinacea, and even lab-grown wood (08:40)Key advice for scientists and entrepreneurs interested in entering the cellular agriculture field (10:12)Building successful teams and robust data foundations in biotech startups (11:43)Key takeaway:Cellular agriculture's future isn't a single technology replacing conventional food production. It's multiple parallel approaches creating resilience in global food systems. The opportunity is clear: the technical principles you've mastered in biopharma translate directly to food applications, but the faster commercialization timelines and novel business models require rethinking what "stage-appropriate development" means.The question for bioprocess leaders is whether you'll help build the solutions to bridge the food production gap, or watch from the sidelines as food security becomes the defining challenge of our generation.Here is the previous conversation with Steven Lang:Episodes 55-56: Cultivated Meat: A Promising Future or an Inevitable Bubble? with Steven LangConnect with Steven Lang:LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/steven-lang-b003406California Cultured Inc.: www.cacultured.comNext step:Need fast CMC guidance? → Get rapid CMC decision support hereSupport the show
