Company Overview: Who Hoxton Farms Is
Hoxton Farms is a London-based biotech startup founded in 2020 by Dr. Max Jamilly and Ed Steele. It focuses on growing cultivated animal fat (like pork fat) from stem cells — without raising animals — using a blend of cell biology, AI, mathematical modelling, and proprietary bioreactor technology. The company’s goal is to provide sustainable, scalable, and delicious fat ingredients that can transform plant-based and hybrid food products by improving taste and texture, while significantly reducing environmental impact compared to traditional animal agriculture. (hoxtonfarms.com)
What They Produce: Cultivated Animal Fat
Hoxton Farms grows real animal fat cells in modular bioreactors that mimic the natural environment where animal fat develops. This cultivated fat is intended to be a drop-in ingredient for food manufacturers — to replace animal fat or less flavorful plant oils in products such as meat alternatives, sausages, soups, sauces, and more.
- The cultivated fat offers better flavour, texture and cooking performance compared with plant oils like coconut or canola.
- The process also allows nutritional tuning, potentially producing fats with healthier profiles (e.g., more omega-3s, less saturated fat). (hoxtonfarms.com)
This technology addresses a major limitation of many plant-based alternatives today: poor sensory qualities due to lack of authentic animal fat. (The Grocer)
Infrastructure & Scale-Up in the UK
Pilot Production Facility
Hoxton Farms operates one of the UK’s first pilot production facilities for cultivated animal fat, located in Central London (Old Street/Shoreditch):
- ~14,000 sq ft site with cell culture labs, food development kitchen, and bespoke bioreactor workshop.
- Designed to produce up to 10 tonnes of cultivated fat per year and significantly scale manufacturing capability.
- Aims to reach commercial-level scale and cost parity with plant oils using advanced, low-capex bioreactors. (FoodManufacture.co.uk)
This facility not only accelerates R&D but also serves as a centre for prototyping, customer co-development, and regulatory preparation. (FoodManufacture.co.uk)
Strategic Partnerships & Global Expansion
🇯🇵 Mitsui Chemicals
Hoxton Farms entered into a strategic collaboration and investment partnership with Mitsui Chemicals (Japan) to:
- Incorporate advanced materials into Hoxton’s bioreactors.
- Improve cost of goods (COGS), yield, and manufacturability.
- Explore scaling production of cultivated fat and related bioproducts for food, cosmetics, pharma, and sustainable materials.
- Broaden the company’s reach across Asia-Pacific biomanufacturing and innovation ecosystems. (AgFunderNews)
Sumitomo Corporation
Hoxton Farms also partnered with Sumitomo Corporation to bring cultivated fat to Japan and wider Asia, where meat demand and concerns about health, food security, and sustainability are rising. This partnership aims to support regulatory engagement and commercial adoption in key Asian markets. (hoxtonfarms.com)
Regulatory & Market Milestones
Singapore Regulatory Submission
Hoxton Farms filed its first regulatory dossier for cultivated pork fat with the Singapore Food Agency (SFA):
- Singapore is a global leader in approving cultivated meat products, making this submission a major strategic step for market entry in Asia.
- Hoxton’s regulatory filings are expected to expand to UK, North America, and other Asian markets.
- The submission is overseen by experienced leaders who previously won regulatory approval for other cultivated meat products. (hoxtonfarms.com)
🇬🇧 FSA Sandbox & UK Strategy
Hoxton Farms has been selected for the UK Food Standards Agency’s Cell-Cultivated Products Sandbox, signalling progress in regulatory collaboration and highlighting the UK’s increasing emphasis on alternative protein innovation. (hoxtonfarms.com)
Innovation & Tech Leadership
Hoxton Farms combines advanced computational biology, machine learning, and custom bioreactor design to:
- Optimize cell growth, reduce costs, and scale production.
- Customise fats for taste, nutritional profile, and performance.
- Build a modular and scalable biomanufacturing platform that could extend beyond food to other bioproducts in the future. (hoxtonfarms.com)
This technological foundation is central to making cultivated fats more economically feasible and environmentally sustainable. (hoxtonfarms.com)
Environmental & Industry Impact
Hoxton Farms’ work supports broader sustainable food objectives by:
- Reducing reliance on livestock agriculture, which is resource-intensive and contributes to emissions and biodiversity loss.
- Offering cruelty-free, lower-impact fats that boost the taste and uptake of plant-based foods.
- Helping companies produce more appealing alternative proteins, thereby encouraging consumer adoption of diets with lower environmental footprints. (hoxtonfarms.com)
Their approach aligns with wider UK food strategy goals to foster innovation in alternative proteins and future-proof the food system. (vegconomist.com)
Summary
Hoxton Farms is a leading UK sustainable food tech innovator focused on cultivated animal fat with potential to transform meat alternatives and broader food products through:
- Proprietary biomanufacturing technology and AI-guided cell culture.
- A pioneering UK pilot production facility.
- Strategic global partnerships (Mitsui Chemicals, Sumitomo Corporation).
- Active regulatory engagement in Singapore and beyond.
- A mission to make meat alternatives taste better, be healthier, and reduce environmental impact.
This positions them at the forefront of sustainable food innovation both in the UK and globally. (FoodManufacture.co.uk)
Here’s a **detailed look at Hoxton Farms’ sustainable food technology efforts — including case studies and industry comments — showing how the UK-based company is advancing cultivated food ingredients with real business and innovation impact: (benchling.com)
Case Study #1 — Machine Learning to Scale Cultivated Fat R&D
Context
Hoxton Farms partnered with Benchling (a life-science data platform) to streamline and upscale its research & development workflows for cultivated fat — the key ingredient in improving plant-based and hybrid food products.
Key Results
Improved data capture & analysis
By standardising how experimental data is captured and analysed across teams, Hoxton Farms accelerated insights into cell growth and optimisation — a major bottleneck in cultivated ingredient development. (benchling.com)
Cross-functional research alignment
All R&D scientists worked from unified data systems, enabling rapid machine learning model builds that informed new experiments. This reduced wasted lab time and increased discovery speed. (benchling.com)
Operational efficiency gains
Automation of data entry and dashboards meant researchers could focus on scientific design, not endless data handling — an important step toward making cultivated fat cost-competitive. (benchling.com)
Commentary: This case shows how advanced digital tools (AI + structured data management) can accelerate biotech innovation — especially critical for novel food companies where trial costs can skyrocket without good data infrastructure. Hoxton Farms’ implementation illustrates a pragmatic approach to scaling bioprocess development. (benchling.com)
Case Study #2 — Pilot Production Facility in London
Overview
Hoxton Farms opened the UK’s first cultivated animal fat pilot facility in central London to advance scale, prototyping and commercial readiness of its cultivated fat products. (FoodManufacture.co.uk)
What It Achieved
Scale and visibility
The 14,000 sq ft facility includes specialised cell culture labs, in-house bioreactor workshops, and food prototype kitchens — enabling faster innovation cycles with customers and partners. (FoodManufacture.co.uk)
Production capacity
The pilot plant was designed to produce up to 10 tonnes of cultivated fat annually, aiming for cost levels comparable with industrial plant oils — a major milestone in cellular agriculture scale economics. (FoodManufacture.co.uk)
Tech-forward manufacturing
Hoxton’s own custom bioreactors — smaller, modular units running in parallel — are meant to lower capital costs versus traditional large reactors used in pharma, advancing commercial viability. (FoodManufacture.co.uk)
Industry & Co-Founder Comments
- Max Jamilly (Co-Founder): Cultivated fats are the “missing ingredient” in meat alternatives — key to delivering taste and texture that consumers expect while reducing environmental and ethical costs of conventional meat. (FoodManufacture.co.uk)
- Ed Steele (Co-Founder): Locating facilities in the city enables better engagement with consumers, partners, and regulators — an unconventional but strategic choice to increase awareness and speed of innovation. (themoneytimes.media)
Commentary: This case underscores how physical infrastructure matters for food tech startups to transition from lab to customer co-development — an important phase just before regulatory approval and market launch. (FoodManufacture.co.uk)
Case Study #3 — Regulatory Strategy via Singapore Submission
What Happened
Hoxton Farms submitted its first regulatory dossier for cultivated pork fat to the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) in late 2025, signaling a strategic push into markets with progressive food innovation pathways. (hoxtonfarms.com)
Why It Matters
Singapore as innovation hub
Singapore was the first country in the world to approve cultivated meat products, making it an ideal test bed for emerging ingredients like Hoxton Fat. (hoxtonfarms.com)
Global regulatory benchmarking
Successful SFA review can create precedents for submissions in the UK, North America and other Asian markets — speeding broader commercial roll-out. (hoxtonfarms.com)
Safety & public confidence
The dossier reflects years of R&D, safety assessments, and process validation — critical for building trust before retail adoption. (hoxtonfarms.com)
Expert Perspectives
- Dr. Joe Taylor (Head of Innovation): Emphasised that safety and sustainability are core attributes of cultivated fats, reinforcing that this isn’t just novel tech but a potential building block for resilient food systems. (hoxtonfarms.com)
Commentary: Regulatory case studies like this highlight that commercialisation is as much a strategic process as a technological one — especially in categories like cellular agriculture where global frameworks differ widely. (hoxtonfarms.com)
Industry & Expert Comments
Strategic Partnerships
Sumitomo Corporation (Japan)
Hoxton Farms entered a strategic collaboration with Sumitomo to introduce Hoxton Fat to Asia-Pacific markets, addressing rising meat demand, public health concerns and food security challenges. Sumitomo’s supply-chain expertise supports regulatory navigation and food manufacturer integration. (hoxtonfarms.com)
Mitsui Chemicals (Japan)
Mitsui’s investment and material expertise are being used to enhance Hoxton’s bioreactor systems — improving cost, efficiency and scale prospects. This partnership also explores cultivated fat uses in cosmetics and sustainable materials beyond food. (hoxtonfarms.com)
Comments from Leadership
- Max Jamilly, CEO: The Sumitomo partnership “represents a huge step” toward creating what he terms a “deliciously fatty future” where sustainable fats support healthier and sustainable food products. (hoxtonfarms.com)
- Industry Observers: Investments from tech-focused VCs and strategic partners underline confidence that cultivated fats can reshape alternative protein products and hybrid foods, bridging taste and sustainability gaps in the market. (FoodBev Media)
Key Takeaways — Why These Cases Matter
| Aspect | Impact |
|---|---|
| R&D & AI Integration | Faster discovery, greater process efficiency, and stronger scientific foundations. (benchling.com) |
| Infrastructure & Scaling | Commercial-grade pilot production accelerates real-world testing and partner co-creation. (FoodManufacture.co.uk) |
| Regulatory Pathways | Singapore submission creates a blueprint for global market entry — a major de-risking step. (hoxtonfarms.com) |
| Global Strategy | Strategic partners extend technological reach and channels for commercialisation. (hoxtonfarms.com) |