June 13, 2022

 

Eat Just to build Asia's largest cell-cultured chicken facility in Singapore

 

California food technology firm Eat Just's Good Meat division is set to build Asia's largest cell-cultured chicken facility (30,000 sqft) in food industry hub Bedok Food City, Singapore, The Straits Times reported.

 

The SGD 61 million (~US$43.9 million; SGD 1 = US$0.72) facility will house a 6,000-litre bioreactor, the largest in the cultivated meat industry to date, that will produce tens of thousands of kg of the novel chicken each year once it is operational in the first quarter of next year.

 

The vessel is three times the size of a typical industrial bioreactor, with two storeys.

 

Approximately 50 researchers, scientists, and engineers will work in the plant, which will be Good Meat's largest until its second US facility is built later.

 

In December 2020, Singapore became the first country to approve the sale of cell-based meat, with the product coming from Good Meat.

 

In recent years, as Singapore strives to improve its food security and produce food sustainably, research and development in novel foods and alternative proteins has gained traction.

 

Singapore, which currently imports more than 90% of its food, wants to protect itself from global food supply disruptions by producing 30% of its food locally by 2030.

 

Grace Fu, Singapore's Minister for Sustainability and the Environment, said alternative proteins have the potential to supplement Singapore's agricultural productivity and contribute meaningfully to our 30 by 30 goal.

 

Josh Tetrick, CEO of Eat Just, said Good Meat's bioreactor can produce between 4,500kg and 45,000kg of cell-cultured chicken meat per year.

 

This is a small percentage of the 214,400 tonnes of chicken imported by Singapore last year.

 

The announcement of the new facility comes more than a week after Malaysia imposed a ban on chicken exports, leaving suppliers and sellers in the country short on fresh meat. Chilled, frozen, and processed poultry have become their go-to options.

 

The energy and carbon costs of cultivated meat production, according to Good Meat, will be significantly lower than those of animal agriculture.

 

-      The Straits Times