(Dow Jones) -- Tyson Foods Inc. has invested in a startup that grows meat from animal cells, a bet on alternatives to chicken farms and cattle feedlots.
Tyson on Monday said it had purchased a minority stake in Memphis Meats Inc., a Bay Area company developing technology to produce meat using cell-culture technology. Memphis has produced a beef meatball and a chicken strip so far, though the company says it likely will be several years before its products are sold at stores and restaurants.
Memphis Meats and other startups working on alternatives to the traditional slaughtering of livestock tout the technology as a cheaper and more environmentally friendly way to produce meat for a growing and increasingly affluent global population. The United Nations projects global meat production will increase by two-thirds over the next 35 years.