UPSIDE Foods plans Chicago cultivated meat facility

In Illinois, cultivated meat pioneer UPSIDE Foods is planning its first commercial-scale cultivated meat plant. Located in Glenview, just north of Chicago, the 187,000-square-foot facility will initially produce ground cultivated chicken products and eventually expand to manufacture other species and formats. The site was chosen for its proximity to a nature preserve and major transportation corridors.

The state-of-the-art facility will be designed to accommodate cultivators with capacities of up to 100,000 liters and builds on insights from UPSIDE’s Engineering, Production, and Innovation Center (EPIC) in California.

UPSIDE is calling the plant “Rubicon” to signify “a point of no return” and reflect its commitment to redefine the future of food.