Swiss foodies could soon be served an experimental new delicacy: cultivated burgers.The lab-grown cuisine is the brainchild of Dutch scaleup Mosa Meat. Founded in 2013, the company cultivates beef from cells extracted from cows. The blend is then formed into burgers that are indistinguishable from the mince on supermarket shelves. The lucky cattle, meanwhile, amble back to the farm.Mosa calls the product the worlds kindest burger.Cultivated meat could also slash our carbon footprints, but the concept first needs support from regulators around the world.The of EU techThe latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol' founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It's free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!Swiss authorities are the latest target for Mosa. The company announced today that its requested a novel food authorisation in Switzerland that focuses on one ingredient: cultivated fat.Going fat-first is a local strategy. Like the EU, Switzerland requires cultivated ingredients to be submitted individually for regulatory approval.Fat is a logical starting point. It plays a critical role in delivering the taste, aroma, and mouthfeel of beef, making it essential to the culinary experience. Once approved, the fat can be mixed with plant-based ingredients into beefy products. Maarten Bosch, Mosas CEO, told TNW that the company plans to sell burgers formed from the blend. The scaleup is also in talks with plant-based food firms about adding cultivated fat to their products.By starting with cultivated fat, we are paving the way to bring our first burgers to market while staying true to our long-term vision, Bosch said.The cultivated meat marketThe Swiss submission marks the latest milestone in Mosas journey to commercialise cultivated meat.In 2013, the companys chief scientific officer, Mark Post, created the worlds first cultivated burger. Costing a whopping 250,000 to make, the patty was also the worlds most expensive burger. Google co-founder Sergey Brin paid the bill.Three years later, Mosa Meat was founded. Since then, the company has pioneered a cultivation technique that removes the controversial fetal bovine serum, earned the industrys first B Corp certificate, and raised over 130mn from investors including Leonardo DiCaprio.Mosa is now focusing on routes to market.Last year, the company hosted the first public tasting of cultivated beef in the EU. In January, Mosa submitted the unions second-ever application to sell cultivated meat. The first was for a lab-grown foie gras made in(where else?) France.Across Europe, however, no cultivated meat for human consumption has been approved for sale yet. Globally, the only countries to have given the green light are Singapore, the US, and Isreal.Singapore became the first in 2020. Unlike Switzerland and the EU, the country assesses full cultivated meat products for approval.Mosas new application, by contrast, focuses on just the fat. The company expects the approval process to last around 18 months. Story by Thomas Macaulay Managing editor Thomas is the managing editor of TNW. He leads our coverage of European tech and oversees our talented team of writers. Away from work, he e (show all) Thomas is the managing editor of TNW. He leads our coverage of European tech and oversees our talented team of writers. Away from work, he enjoys playing chess (badly) and the guitar (even worse). Get the TNW newsletterGet the most important tech news in your inbox each week.Also tagged with