UPSIDE Foods, a cultivated meat company based in Berkeley, California, is undergoing a strategic restructuring to improve operational efficiency. The recent round of workforce reductions is part of an ongoing effort to streamline operations and focus on commercialization and scaling of products. This marks the third round of layoffs in the last year, as the company faces financial pressures and challenges in the cultivated meat industry.

The company has shifted its production strategy, pausing construction on a large-scale facility in Illinois to focus on operations at its existing facility in California. While Upside remains committed to building a full-scale production facility in the future, challenges such as regulatory approval barriers and difficulties in scaling production continue to impact the cultivated meat industry as a whole. Many companies, like Vow from Australia, are reassessing their strategies and making adjustments in response to the complex challenges facing the sector.