NL-UK cellular agriculture fact finding mission

News item | 05-02-2026 | 12:44

Together with Cellulaire Agricultuur Nederland, Alternative Proteins Association and Bezos Centre for Sustainable Protein - Imperial, the Agricultural Team at the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the United Kingdom organized a fact-finding mission on food biotechnology to the UK.

The two-day mission, organised by the Dutch Embassy, Cellular Agriculture Nederlands (CAN) Foundation, the Alternative Protein Association (APA) and the Bezos Centre for Sustainable Protein at Imperial College, brought together representatives from Dutch and UK businesses, universities, and government, to explore future areas for collaboration.

Both the UK and the Netherlands are advancing rapidly in cellular agriculture technologies,  following significant investment in research and innovation. In the UK, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) works closely with companies, among them Mosa Meat from the Netherlands, to accelerate the approval process for cell cultivated products, through its Cell-Cultivated Products Sandbox Programme. The FSA and Food Standards Scotland (FSS) last December published the UK’s first safety guidance on cell-cultivated products.

Delegates from the Netherlands attended an engagement event organised by the FSA/FSS and the APA on the  Cell Cultivated Products Sandbox Programme;  visited the Bezos Centre for Sustainable Protein at Imperial College for discussions and networking sessions with UK representatives of businesses, universities and government departments; and toured the facilities of Multus, who combine AI, robotics, and biotechnology methods to optimise growth media for cell cultivation, and the headquarters of Hoxton Farms, a biotechnology company in London that builds modular clusters of bioreactors to grow high-margin products from stem cells for food and pharma.

The Agriculture Team at the Embassy wants to thank the co-organisers and all participants for their valuable contributions that resulted in a successful fact-finding mission!

Disscussions over the two days focused on priorities for collaboration in research and education and also covering topics such as funding and scaling as well as regulatory issues. Many opportunities for collaboration were identified throughout the two days; we are curious to see further developments in this field.

If you would like more information about the fact finding mission itself, or to share or ask about opportunities for collaboration with the Netherlands, please do not hesitate to contact the Agricultural Team via the contact form.