Mission Barns brings cultivated pork to US retail shelves for the first time at Berkeley Bowl

Mission Barns, the San Francisco-based pioneer in cultivated pork innovation, will make history on 1 November 2025, when its cultivated pork meatballs go on sale at Berkeley Bowl, marking the first-ever retail sale of cultivated meat in the United States.

The milestone extends Mission Barns’ journey from the restaurant table to the grocery aisle, following its successful debut at San Francisco’s Fiorella restaurant earlier this year. To mark the occasion, the company is also launching a four-part public tasting series titled Bites from the Barn, offering shoppers the chance to sample cultivated pork for free and engage directly with the scientists behind the technology.

“This isn’t just our story – it’s an open invitation to join the mission for meat that’s both tastier and healthier than current options on the market,” said Cecilia Chang, CEO of Mission Barns. “We talk about scaling technology, but real change scales through people voting with their plates. That’s why this series matters – it’s where health meets flavor, innovation meets community, and the movement truly begins to grow.”

The first Bites from the Barn event takes place at 3pm on 1 November, featuring Mission Barns’ Italian-style cultivated-pork meatballs, which will be available for purchase in limited quantities at US$13.99 per pack. Subsequent tasting events will follow monthly through February 2026, each spotlighting a different cultivated pork product.

The launch marks a significant shift in how consumers can encounter cultivated meat – not in controlled tasting rooms or private events, but in a real-world grocery environment.

“We are thrilled to offer these cultivated pork products in our meat department,” said Anthony LeBlanc, Head Meat Buyer at Berkeley Bowl. “Berkeley Bowl has long been a launchpad for innovative food brands. We’ve been excited to work with Mission Barns for many years, and these meatballs – made with their cultivated pork fat – deliver the same flavor and texture as conventional pork while offering an option for our meat-loving and flexitarian customers. We’re proud to be the first US grocery store to offer cultivated pork to our customers.”

Mission Barns has partnered with researchers at Tufts University’s Center for Cellular Agriculture to study the tasting series as a real-world test of how consumers experience cultivated meat. Researchers will observe interactions and collect feedback to inform future studies on public perception, purchasing behavior, and communication strategies.

“This partnership gives us a unique opportunity to study how consumers encounter cultivated meat outside the R&D lab or focus group setting,” said Sean Cash, an economist and the Bergstrom Foundation Professor at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University. “Understanding how people experience and talk about these novel products in everyday environments will be key to shaping responsible and transparent innovation across the food system.”

Mission Barns’ breakthrough lies in its fat-first approach. Instead of cultivating muscle cells, the company grows real pork fat – branded as Mission Fat™ – which delivers the flavor, aroma, and mouthfeel that make meat so distinctive. The fat is then blended with plant proteins and natural seasonings to create hybrid products with authentic taste and texture.

In March 2025, Mission Barns became the first company in the world to receive FDA clearance for cultivated pork fat, followed by USDA inspection authorization – a regulatory milestone that cleared the path for commercial sale.

Each limited-edition retail pack of cultivated-pork meatballs reflects years of R&D and a commitment to scaling cultivated meat in a way that complements existing food systems.

Mission Barns’ debut at Berkeley Bowl represents more than a technological breakthrough – it’s a test of public curiosity and cultural readiness. The company hopes the series will encourage open dialogue and demystify how cultivated meat is made, while letting consumers experience the product firsthand.

“Every bite is a small act of change,” Chang said. “From our first restaurant launch to this retail debut, our goal has always been to make meat that’s sustainable, scalable, and satisfying. Bites from the Barn is where people can see – and taste – what that future looks like.”

For now, the meat aisle at Berkeley Bowl will host more than a grocery first. It will serve as the meeting point between science and supper – where cultivated pork officially moves from concept to cart.