RESPECTfarms

About RESPECTfarms

RespectFarms is a Dutch cultivated-meat company focused on bringing cell-based meat production onto working farms. It positions itself as a system integrator that combines biotechnology, agricultural know-how, and existing farm infrastructure so livestock farmers can participate in the protein transition rather than be displaced by it.

The company’s core idea is that cultivated meat can become a complementary business model for farmers, especially in a decentralized, farm-scale setup. RespectFarms says this approach can support more resilient food systems, local production, and a more viable path to commercializing cultivated meat.

RespectFarms also operates with a strong educational and transition-oriented mission: it works with farmers, researchers, policymakers, and industry partners to build understanding, test the model in practice, and create a future for meat production that uses fewer resources and reduces animal slaughter.

Core Values

• Sustainability: RespectFarms frames cultivated meat as a way to use less land, water, energy, and feed than conventional livestock production. Reducing environmental pressure is central to its mission.
• Animal welfare: The company emphasizes slaughter-free meat production and a reduction in animal suffering. Its messaging consistently links cultivated meat to a more ethical food system.
• Innovation: RespectFarms combines biotechnology with agriculture and seeks to pioneer new farm-scale production models. It presents experimentation, modular design, and continuous learning as essential to progress.
• Collaboration: The company stresses partnerships with farmers, scientists, governments, and industry players. It sees shared value and community engagement as necessary to make the transition work.
• Food security and resilience: RespectFarms highlights the potential for cultivated meat to provide a more consistent protein source and to diversify farm income. It positions decentralization as a way to strengthen resilience in the food system.

Unique Aspects

• World’s first cultivated meat farm: RespectFarms says it launched the world’s first cultivated meat farm in the Netherlands, with a working farm in Zuid-Holland equipped for cultivated meat production.
• Farmer-led, decentralized model: Unlike centralized industrial approaches, RespectFarms promotes a scale-out model that embeds cultivated meat production in existing farms and keeps farmers at the center of the business model.
• CRAFT consortium leadership: RespectFarms leads CRAFT, a European consortium co-funded by EIT Food, to design, build, optimize, and commercialize the first cultivated meat farm. The consortium includes partners such as Wageningen University & Research, Mosa Meat, Aleph Farms, Multus, Kipster, and Royal Kuijpers.
• Public funding and institutional support: The company’s work has been supported by EIT Food, the European Union, Rabobank’s Rabo Impact Fund, EIP-Agri, and the Province of Zuid-Holland. These backers reinforce its transition and commercialization agenda.
• Experience-centre approach: RespectFarms plans an Experience Centre at the farm so farmers, policymakers, researchers, students, and citizens can engage directly with the technology and the broader food-system questions around it.