Cell-Based South Africa - Newform Foods (Mzansi Meat)

Food Meets Climate Podcast with Simon Newstead

At 16 years old, Tasneem Karodia cut meat out of her diet for sustainability reasons. However it wasn’t until she was working in management consulting that she saw the accelerating potential of protein alternatives, and decided to leave her job to join the movement. Now as co-founder and CFO of Mzansi Meat, Africa’s first cultivated meat company, she comes on the podcast to share her story and that of the South African startup. We chat about what it was like to leave her previous job behind and the technological learning curve that came with transitioning to the sector. We also do a deep dive on South African perceptions of meat and meat alternatives, scaling, what species Mzansi has chosen to start with and an exciting milestone reached for the startup so far plus more.