Singing Innovator. That’s how Roman Lauš, an entrepreneur whose startup Mewery develops meat from animal cells in the lab, could be described as a pioneer in the food of the future. This time he will present himself not only as a visionary, but also as the frontman and singer of the band Mean Daddies.
On the final day of the festival, Sunday 11 June, Lauš’s band Mean Daddies, in which he sings and plays guitar, will perform shortly before noon. During the concert, the single “You are free” will be played, and the music video directed by Michal Skořepa will be released on 2 June.
Afterwards, Roman Lauš will make one more appearance at the Rock for People stand – as part of the accompanying programme, he will publicly present a prototype of a hamburger with cultured pork for the first time. This is meat developed from pig cells using a unique method based on microalgae. It is the brainchild of the aforementioned startup Mewery, which this year introduced the first ever lab-grown meat in Central and Eastern Europe. The advantage of microalgae-based technology is that it gives meat nutritional benefits that conventional slaughter meat does not have.
Roman Lauš from Mewery will present his lecture in the conference session entitled FutureFood. During it, he wants to explain to the public why food produced using these modern methods will be common in the future. He will also make the case for why it is important to look for alternative sources of protein for an ever-growing population and a worsening climate on our planet. During the discussion, a mobile cultivator will be on stage to demonstrate the scientific approach to food production.
“This is a new direction in the development of cultivators that we are testing in our laboratories and it is suitable for meat cultivation. There are only very expensive and complicated cultivators on the market for the pharmaceutical industry. So there is a need to come up with a new, simpler and cheaper solution for the food industry. That is why we are helping several startups to test and optimize this new type of cultivator.” Explains the founder of the science-futurist startup.
The startup will only be able to show the latest prototype on stage, its consumption is not yet legally possible. “We’ve been doing our research to make sure it’s not just an ordinary burger. Beef burgers are the most common, but pork ones are no exception. That’s what we specialize in in our development. That’s why we decided to make a specialty that will make our burger a novel food – a new type of food that is unique in the world,” concludes Roman Lauš.
