Singapore Approves Eat Just’s Lab-Created Chicken in a Global First

(Bloomberg) — Eat Just Inc., a maker of meat and egg substitutes, was approved to sell its laboratory-created chicken in Singapore, which became the first government to allow the sale of cultured meat.

The product, created from animal cells without the slaughter of chickens, will debut in Singapore under the GOOD Meat brand as a chicken bite with breading and seasoning in a single restaurant. Eat Just is initially working with a local manufacturer, the Food Innovation and Resource Centre, to produce the cultured chicken. The company is buying more equipment to expand sales to other restaurants and eventually grocery stores.

“We want Singapore to be the focus of our manufacturing globally,” Chief Executive Officer Josh Tetrick said in an interview. “They’re just really forward-thinking in building an enabling environment for this kind of work.”

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Singapore is moving quickly to allow the sale of alternative proteins like cultured meat, a move that fits into its broader food-security agenda. The densely populated nation, which relies mostly on other countries for food, has deepened its focus on getting enough to eat for its 5.7 million people as the Covid-19 crisis exposes fragility in supply chains worldwide.

Authorities allow alternative proteins to be sold after they are found to be safe for consumption. This year, plant-based meat maker Impossible Foods Inc. entered the retail market in Singapore and Hong Kong with its product sold in grocery stores.

The city-state is trying to produce 30% of its own food by 2030, up from less than 10% today, and recently accelerated funding for local farms. San Francisco-based Eat Just, which isn’t yet profitable, is planning an initial public offering in the U.S. at some point.

“Singapore has really spent a lot more time and energy getting this right than Western Europe and the U.S.,” Tetrick said. The chicken’s flavor and taste are the same as the real thing, he said.

The new chicken product will be priced similarly to premium chicken for the first six months, Tetrick said. The cost will come down over time as the company builds global scale, he said. “Eventually we want to get to the place where it is significantly more cost-effective than conventional production.”

That could take a while as chicken is one of the most inexpensive proteins. In the U.S., it’s also the most popular — with consumption higher than that of any other meat. Grocery stores regularly sell $5 whole rotisserie chickens, and some restaurants offer $1 chicken sandwiches.

Humane, Sustainable

At the same time, fast-food chains and grocery stores have been rapidly adding meat alternatives to their menus. While cultured meat is not a plant-based substitute, it can be marketed as more humane and environmentally sustainable.

In Singapore, cultured burgers may be next. Eat Just is planning to submit an application for lab-created beef during the first half of next year. The approval process for cultured meat products is moving more slowly in Europe and the U.S.

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