Eat Just Makes First-Ever Commercial Sale Of Cultured Meat In Singapore

Shortly after winning the race to become the first to gain regulatory approval for cultured meat in Singapore, Eat Just has announced that it has now made the world’s first-ever commercial sale of cell-based meat for human consumption to a restaurant in Singapore. The restaurant, 1880, will be launching Eat Just’s cultivated chicken on Saturday (December 19). 

Eat Just has revealed today (December 16) that it has made the world’s first commercial sale of its cultivated chicken bites to 1880, a restaurant located in Robertson Quay in Singapore. The first diners to taste San Francisco food tech’s GOOD Meat Cultured Chicken served by the restaurant will be young people aged between 14 to 18. In total, there will be three dishes made with cultured chicken presented to diners, with each inspired by the cuisines of China, the U.S. and Brazil – representing the three biggest poultry producers in the world. 

This historic step, the first-ever commercial sale of cultured meat, moves us closer to a world where the majority of meat we eat will not require tearing down a single forest, displacing a single animal’s habitat or using a single drop of antibiotics.

Josh Tetrick, Co-Founder & CEO, Eat Just

The startup gained regulatory approval from Singapore authorities for the commercial sale of cultivated meat earlier this month, marking a world’s first and an enormous milestone for the wider cell-based industry. Approval was given to sell cultured chicken as an ingredient in chicken bites, made up of 70% cultured chicken, with the remainder made up of plant protein.

“This historic step, the first-ever commercial sale of cultured meat, moves us closer to a world where the majority of meat we eat will not require tearing down a single forest, displacing a single animal’s habitat or using a single drop of antibiotics,” said Josh Tetrick, co-founder and CEO of Eat Just. “We’re thrilled to partner with 1880 to launch a product that will someday be served on the dinner tables of families living in the suburbs of Birmingham, Alabama, to the skyscrapers of Shanghai.”

“We are honored to host the global launch of Eat Just’s first cultured meat product. This is a revolutionary step towards solving climate change and creating the opportunity to feed the world without overwhelming the planet,” added Marc Nicholson, founder of 1880. 

Executive chef Colin Buchan of 1880 continued that the launch marks the start of a “very exciting” era. “It’s working with new ingredients, something very creative, something we’ve never quite seen before and I think people are going to love it,” Buchan said in a statement. 

This is a revolutionary step towards solving climate change and creating the opportunity to feed the world without overwhelming the planet.

Marc Nicholson, Founder, 1880

Eat Just will also be launching its new brand GOOD Meat this Saturday (December 19), on the same day 1880 will serve its cultured chicken menu. The brand, GOOD Meat, has been described as a small-scale commercial venture offering consumers “real, high-quality meat created directly from animal cells”. 

The entire process up to Eat Just’s major feat of winning over regulators in Singapore to bring its cultured chicken to market came after many months involving the team providing extensive documents and characterisation of its antibiotic-free cultured chicken products and demonstrating the manufacturing operations behind it in 1,200-litre bioreactors. 

In parallel, we have also developed an animal-free nutrient recipe to feed our cells and have successfully created chicken that does not require animal derived ingredients in the culture media. We will bring that to commercialisation pending regulatory review.

Eat Just

The Singapore Food Agency (SFA) specifically granted the food tech approval for cultured chicken that had been produced with animal-derived bovine serum, which poses questions about whether the product, while slaughter-free, is suitable for vegans or vegetarians. 

When asked for further clarification, a spokesperson for Eat Just told Green Queen: “Singapore granted us approval for a chicken cell line that is produced with a very low level of bovine serum, however this is effectively removed through the harvesting and washing procedure.”

“In parallel, we have also developed an animal-free nutrient recipe to feed our cells and have successfully created chicken that does not require animal derived ingredients in the culture media. We will bring that to commercialisation pending regulatory review. That’s something we’re working on now,” the spokesperson added. 

All images courtesy of Eat Just.