UPSIDE Foods steps back into the spotlight as 'MrBeast' brings cell-cultivated chicken to a mass audience

Cell-cultivated meat briefly moved from courtrooms and regulatory briefings into mainstream pop culture in late January after YouTube creator MrBeast released a behind-the-scenes video filmed at UPSIDE Foods’ production facility, drawing more than 45 million views so far and renewing attention on a company that had spent much of 2025 out of the public spotlight.

The video, uploaded on 24 January, showed MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, touring the UPSIDE Foods facility, learning how cell-cultivated chicken was made, and taking part in a tasting of the product. The format was intentionally straightforward, focusing on visual explanation rather than advocacy, and avoiding the futuristic or confrontational tone that has often surrounded cultivated meat coverage.

• A MrBeast video filmed at UPSIDE Foods surpassed 45 million views within days of its January 24 upload.

• The video showed the production process for cell-cultivated chicken and included an on-camera tasting.

• The appearance followed a quieter year for UPSIDE Foods centered on litigation, consumer research, and restructuring.

UPSIDE Foods had previously disclosed that the facility featured in the video involved an investment of around US$187 million. The company was among the first to secure regulatory clearance in the USA for cell-cultivated chicken, receiving approvals from both the Food and Drug Administration and the Department of Agriculture.

The most widely shared moment came during the tasting segment. After sampling the chicken, Donaldson paused before saying, “It tastes just like chicken.” The reaction appeared unscripted and resonated widely online, not because it was enthusiastic, but because it was understated. The video also emphasized that the meat was produced without slaughtering chickens, a message delivered visually rather than rhetorically.

While cultivated meat companies have traditionally relied on policy discussions, white papers, and controlled tastings to communicate their case, the MrBeast video represented a very different approach. With more than 460 million subscribers, Donaldson commands one of the largest and youngest audiences on the internet. His viewership skewed heavily toward Gen Z and younger Millennials, groups that have generally been harder for the cultivated meat sector to reach through conventional media or industry channels.

That demographic context mattered. Younger audiences were more likely to encounter cultivated meat for the first time through social platforms rather than news coverage, and more likely to form opinions based on creators they trusted rather than institutions. For UPSIDE Foods, the video placed its product in front of tens of millions of viewers who may have had little prior exposure to the technology, outside of politicized headlines or social media disputes.

The scale of that exposure also ensured pushback. Shortly after the video’s release, critics accused Donaldson of acting as a promotional vehicle for the cultivated meat industry. Others objected to online descriptions referring to “genetically grown” chicken, a phrase that scientists and industry figures have repeatedly said can confuse cell cultivation with genetic engineering if left unexplained.

The backlash echoed broader public skepticism toward cultivated meat, particularly in the USA, where political opposition intensified throughout 2025. In September, UPSIDE Foods joined Wildtype in a federal lawsuit challenging Texas’ statewide ban on cultivated meat. Filed with support from the Institute for Justice, the lawsuit argued that the Texas law conflicted with federal regulatory authority and violated constitutional protections around interstate commerce.

“For the same reason California cannot ban Texas beef in California, Texas cannot ban salmon or chicken from California,” said Uma Valeti, Founder and CEO of UPSIDE Foods, when the lawsuit was announced. The case formed part of a wider effort to challenge state-level bans, including a similar legal action in Florida.

Those disputes dominated much of UPSIDE Foods’ public narrative last year. Outside of regulatory milestones and court proceedings, the company maintained a relatively low profile compared with earlier periods when it had been one of the most visible players in the cultivated meat sector.

That quieter phase also included a rare opportunity to study how consumers responded to cultivated meat in real-world settings. In June 2024, just days before Florida’s cultivated meat ban took effect, UPSIDE Foods staged a public tasting event in Miami. The event later became the subject of an ethnographic study published in June 2025, offering unusually detailed insight into consumer reactions beyond surveys or laboratory tests.

The study found that attendees evaluated cultivated meat not only on taste and texture, but on ethical assumptions, political associations, and expectations around transparency. While many expressed support for innovation and consumer choice, the research also highlighted moments of friction, particularly when some attendees learned that some animal-derived ingredients had been used in production. Those findings underscored the importance of clear communication, even among generally supportive audiences.

Taste remained central. Some participants praised the flavor, while others struggled to evaluate the meat due to heavy seasoning or unfamiliar formats. Still, the event succeeded in generating curiosity and conversation, reinforcing the idea that firsthand experience played a critical role in shaping perception.

In contrast, the MrBeast video delivered that exposure at a vastly larger scale, without the trappings of a curated tasting or a policy debate. It showed the production process openly and placed the tasting moment inside an entertainment format familiar to a global audience.

The timing also followed renewed corporate activity. On January 23, UPSIDE Foods announced the launch of Lucius Labs, a spinoff business focused on cell culture media and analytical services for life sciences applications. The move allowed the company to commercialize expertise developed during cultivated meat scale-up while targeting established markets such as cell therapy, vaccine production, and gene and tissue engineering.

Dr Bob Newman, Chief Science Officer at UPSIDE Tech and a member of the Lucius Labs leadership team, said the spinoff had rethought how media development was approached. “Bringing together an expert team to reinvent media development solved for huge barriers,” Newman said. “Our significant benefits in cost and custom formula turnaround time, without any drawbacks to performance, unlock massive potential for life-saving technologies.”

The launch followed a period of operational refocusing at UPSIDE Foods, which confirmed in 2025 that it had streamlined operations in response to tighter funding conditions. The company paused plans for a large production facility in Illinois and instead prioritized expansion of its EPIC site in California, while continuing to explore hybrid products combining cultivated biomass with plant-based ingredients.

Viewed together, the MrBeast video marked a return to visibility, but on different terms. Rather than leading with litigation or technical milestones, UPSIDE Foods re-entered public conversation through culture, reaching a younger, global audience largely absent from previous debates around cultivated meat.

Whether that attention translated into long-term acceptance remained uncertain. What was clear was that after a year defined by courtrooms, studies, and restructuring, UPSIDE Foods had found a way to put cell-cultivated meat back in front of the public, not as an argument to be won, but as food to be seen, understood, and judged for itself.