Singapore startup Meatiply develops cultivated meat products with a focus on Asian cuisines

Elwin Tan, Jason Chua, and Ben Chua were undecided about their next move as they finished their PhD studies in stem cell biology at the National University of Singapore and the Agency of Science Technology and Research (A*STAR).

As the trio started thinking deeply about the future, they saw the value of their academic research in stem cell differentiation.

After consulting various people, the threesome, with deep and relevant expertise in muscle and fat cell research, decided to apply their knowledge to develop a protein alternative. They were joined by Prof Teh Bin Tean, who holds multiple roles within Singapore’s research community.

“Food is a topic close to our hearts, and we felt our knowledge could help solve some pressing issues plaguing the world, such as food security, environmental degradation, and animal welfare,” Tan tells e27.

Also Read: Alt.Flex.Eat: Flexitarianism is the flavour of the SEAson

After further deliberations, they decided to build a venture in the cultivated meat domain. They were further encouraged by Singapore being the first country to approve cultivated meat sales in December 2020 and the emergence of a growing number of successful alternative protein companies globally and locally.

That was the beginning of Meatiply.

Incorporated in April 2021 in Singapore, Meatiply develops and produces cultivated meat cuts with a focus on Asian cuisines. An A*STAR spin-off, the startup obtains cells from livestock animals like chicken and uses regenerative biology to grow these cells into meat.

Meatiply (derived from the words ‘meat’ and ‘multiply’) unveiled three structured prototypes as its first proof of concept in September 2022 — kampong chicken yakitori, chicken katsu bites, and Asia’s first smoked duck breast.

These were made from a specific blend of plant-based components and a high percentage of meat cells.”The plant-based ingredient is a blend of components developed by our in-house food technologists. It works best with our cells to give the aroma, texture and taste to the products we are trying to mimic,” Tan explains.

The company plans to pursue a B2C strategy for cultivated meat products and a B2B strategy for meat-derived products. It envisions selling directly to customers and will likely tap into e-commerce platforms and distribution networks for conventional meat, such as supermarkets.

The company aims to launch the products in 2024.

Tan admits that the pricing of its products is currently astronomical compared to conventional meat. “We have R&D strategies to drive down costs and get closer to price parity in the next few years. We also envision adding value to our offerings to make them more enticing to consumers, and they would be prepared to pay a premium for it.”

Consumer perception is also another issue to overcome. “In Singapore and SEA, consumers are highly price-sensitive. In markets like the US and Europe, consumers are willing to pay a premium for foods better suited to their lifestyle and needs, such as sustainable and organic food.”

The meat market in SEA

Meat is a US$2 trillion industry in the region and is ripe for disruption, given the issues of animal welfare and the environmental impact of agriculture.

The founders see enormous opportunities in the region, given that Southeast Asia is at the epicentre of the most populous nations, such as China, India and Indonesia. In addition, SEA has a burgeoning middle-class growth, with chicken being the fastest-growing consumed meat in Asia.

“We want to establish our footprints in Singapore first. As we obtain regulatory approval, we plan to target other markets in Asia, such as China, India, Korea and Japan. We are also aware of the widespread Asian food influence in other parts of the world like the US and Europe and will target these markets in our second phase,” Tan reveals.

Also Read: No animals were harmed in the making of this ‘meat’ burger

Although small, Singapore has witnessed a spike in the birth of alt-protein companies in the last few years. Many companies are already operating in Singapore, including Shiok Meats, Next Gen Foods, TurtleTree, Growthwell Foods, Shiok Meats, Karana, Phuture Foods, Life3 Biotech, MAD Foods, and Float Foods. Players such as Shiok Meats and Net Gen are heavily funded and have already expanded their footprints into other categories or markets.

Tan says that Meatiply develops high-quality and highly complex products with a superior taste, texture, and aroma to its competitors. “We believe that the eventual market leaders in cultivated meat would be the ones that can deliver products with superior taste, texture, and aroma.”

The business is raising a seed round of funding to develop the critical areas of scaling production, cost optimisation, and exploring regulatory approval. Together, these will lay the foundation for its commercialisation plans. It also seeks partners to leverage new technologies in food safety and bioprocess development and further develop cultivated meat and cultivated meat-derived products.

Why bother when there are many plant-based alternatives?

“While plant-based meat greatly reduces conventional meat consumption, not everyone will be convinced to replace meat with plants. We believe that if we make a more realistic product, we’ll convert more people away from the many ills of conventional meat, thus saving more animals and the planet,” Tan concludes.

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Image Credit: Meatiply

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