Meatable has unveiled its cultivated meat products in Singapore, the company’s first press tasting anywhere in the world. This tasting featured pork sausages, hot dogs and pulled pork tacos. The event received Singapore Food Agency (SFA) approval, a necessary part of the regulatory process. The SFA is the world’s first regulator to grant such an authorisation to Meatable. A small, closed-door trade tasting was held in Jun.
Meatable’s R&D team has been working on enhancing the efficiency of its production process, while further increasing the quality and taste of the cultivated products. Meatable produces cultivated pork meat that possesses the ideal attributes of fibre formation, protein content, fat accumulation, and essential meat flavours. The products exhibit the familiar bite, texture, and taste synonymous with traditional meat, making them impossible to tell apart.
Krijn de Nood, co-founder and CEO of Meatable, said: “We are delighted to deliver a world first public product tasting in Singapore. This is an important step for product optimisation and towards full regulatory approval for sales in Singapore, and supports our objectives of bringing our products to a global audience. All this helps us move closer to fulfilling our mission to satisfy the world’s appetite for meat without harming people, animals, or the planet.”
Meatable employs innovative technology to produce cultivated meat at scale. Utilising the opti-ox technology in combination with pluripotent stem cells, Meatable takes a single cell sample from an animal without harm, then replicates the natural growth process of cells. This process enables Meatable to move from cell to sausage in just eight days, a rate 30 times faster than traditional pig rearing. This efficiency positions Meatable to scale cultivated meat production affordably. Moreover, increasing meat consumption comes at a price to the planet: Meatable offers a practical solution to this pressing issue.
Singapore
Singapore has one of the world’s most developed cultivated meat regulatory frameworks, together with the United States. In Singapore, Meatable has started production of its products together with ESCO Aster, the country’s sole commercially licensed cultivated meat manufacturer. Singapore is Meatable’s first production site outside its headquarters in The Netherlands.
Meatable is also collaborating on the co-development of a hybrid product range with Love Handle, Asia’s pioneering plant-based butcher. Beginning in 2024, Meatable’s products, including pork sausages and pork dumplings, will become available in select restaurants and retailers.
Big, meaty step forward
This tasting represents a significant step towards commercialisation, and follows Meatable’s recent funding round of US$35m, bringing total funding to $95m.
The funding will play a critical role in scaling up production and facilitating commercialisation efforts, within Singapore and on a broader scale. The company is on course for a consumer market debut in Singapore in 2024, with plans to expand into the United States and other markets.
Innovative technology for cultivated meat production
While cultivated meat has the potential to revolutionise the food industry, widespread availability is key to its success. Amidst increasing global demand for meat, cultivated meat presents an environmentally sustainable solution. Independent research conducted by CE Delft reveals that cultivated meat can reduce greenhouse gas emissions associated with conventional beef by up to 92% and decrease land use by 95%. Recognising this potential, investors have invested nearly $900m in the sector. The wider alternative protein sector has raised about USD14 billion.
In the coming months, Meatable will host additional tastings in Singapore and internationally, aimed at educating partners and consumers and gaining valuable insights to further develop and provide cultivated meat at scale.
