Gourmey has successfully acquired cultivated-meat peer VitalMeat, leading to the establishment of a new enterprise in France named Parima.
Based in Paris, Gourmey was founded in 2019 by a trio of innovative entrepreneurs. They assert that this merger will forge a “global leader in next-generation animal production”.
Both Gourmey and VitalMeat are dedicated to producing poultry products cultivated from animal cells.
According to a statement issued today (15 October), Parima will integrate their “complementary strengths in scalable cell cultivation and validated production economics.” Financial terms of the deal remain undisclosed.
Founded by chief executive Nicolas Morin-Forest, technology officer Dr. Victor Sayous, and cell biologist and chief scientific officer Antoine Davydoff, Gourmey claims it can produce cultivated duck meat at a cost below €7 per kilogram.
Morin-Forest, who will serve as CEO of Parima, noted: “This is the right moment for consolidation and scale. We’ve proven economic viability and are now expanding across species by uniting two pioneering teams to lead the global shift toward efficient, sustainable animal production.”
Gourmey suggests the “cultivated-protein industry is entering a new phase of consolidation and scale-up.” However, it’s noteworthy that the commercial sale of these products has not yet gained approval in many parts of the world, with Singapore being a notable exception.
Last year, Gourmey announced it had applied to sell its alternative foie gras in regions including the EU, UK, US, Singapore, and Switzerland.
Furthermore, Gourmey stated today: “With Gourmey’s proven production economics and VitalMeat’s 2,000-liter bioreactor capacity, Parima now possesses a solid foundation to scale across species and markets.”
Etienne Duthoit, the founder of VitalMeat, commented: “Joining forces enables us to reach critical mass to serve global markets, from premium foodservice to large-scale B2B.
“By merging world-class expertise in cell lines, bioprocessing, and food science, we accelerate profitability and unlock powerful growth drivers.”
Gourmey further emphasized that the newly combined entities hold “15 patent families and over 70 patent applications.”
It stated that Parima will possess “one of the strongest intellectual property portfolios in cultivated foods,” while VitalMeat’s “production-ready chicken cell lines complement Gourmey’s cost-efficient model, accelerating both industrial and regulatory success.”
Under the European Commission’s novel food framework, Parima stands to be the “first company worldwide positioned for approval of two cultivated” meats—duck and chicken—as stated in the official announcement.
