December 22, 2020

East Just lab-grown chicken plans to enter Singapore retail market in 2022

San Francisco based start-up Eat Just is planning to make their lab grown chicken products available to other restaurants in 2021, with plans to enter Singapore's retail market in 2022, after getting approval for its first global commercial debut for the sale of their products in Singapore recently, Channel News Asia reported.

Josh Tetrick, Eat Just's chief executive, said they will expand the company's product availability to other restaurants in Singapore next year, and enter the country's retail market by mid- or late- 2022.

Zachary Tyndall, East Just's chef and product developer, said the company's cultured chicken is only permitted to be sold in its breaded, bite-sized form by the Singapore Food Agency (SFA).

Tetrick said they are planning to seek SFA's approval to sell their products in other forms, such as breast meat. Research is underway to make the product further mimic real meat through fats and muscle texture.

He said it took two years for their product to gain regulatory approval from the SFA, and they are filing extensions to the initial cultured chicken regulatory approval.

Tyndall said the chicken nuggets are currently produced at Singapore Polytechnic's Food Innovation and Resource Centre. It takes two hours to manufacture 48 nuggets.

He said Eat Just's chicken nuggets have a three-month freezer shelf life, but adds that the company is aiming to extend the product's shelf life longer.

Eat Just's chicken nuggets will be sold as chicken and waffles, or chicken on a chinese steamed bun for SGD 23 (US$17.22; SGD 1 = US$0.75) at restaurant 1880 from January 2021. 

- Reuters