Aleph Farms, the cultivated meat company growing steaks directly from animal cells, is partnering with two of Asias largest food companies to accelerate cellular agriculture. Global protein and seafood player Thai unio and international food and lifestyle company CJ CheilJedang have signed a Memorandums of Understanding (MOU) with the Israel-based start-up.

As part of these agreements, Thai unio and CJ CheilJedang will help to speed up Aleph’s scale-up, go-to-market activities and elevate the distribution of cultivated meat in existing marketing channels across the APAC region. 

In January, Aleph Farms partnered with Mitsubishi Corporation’s Food Industry Group to scale up whole-muscle steaks cultivated from cells produced by its pilot plant BioFarm.

“We are excited to partner with key players in the Asia market and establish a new category of meat products to address increasing consumption in the region,” says Didier Toubia, co-founder and CEO of Aleph Farms. 

“We carefully consider partnerships that reflect our core values and sustainability commitments, and both Thai unio and CJ share our resolutions for achieving carbon-neutrality and enhancing food security for all people of Asia and around the world. Temasek is an ideal investment partner with an intrinsic understanding of the Asian market.”

Acceptance on the way?
Asia is leading the global food industry in supporting and adopting cell-cultured meats. 

Singapore is the first country to approve cultivated meat and offer it on a restaurant menu. This happened in December 2020 when cultured chicken meat from Eat Just was green-lighted for sale in Singapore as an ingredient in chicken bites.

Cultured chicken had its global debut in Asia, a region of the world that, while vulnerable to food insecurity and struggling with scarcity of natural resources, is also seeing increased meat consumption thanks to rising income, growing populations and increased urbanization.

“We are excited to deepen the relationship with Aleph Farms to explore the market potential of alternative beef produced from cultured cells,” adds Sze Cotte Tan, CTO of Food R&D at CJ CheilJedang. 

“We are at the forefront of a trend in Asia food industry as Asian consumers show increasing interest in alternative proteins, and we have the opportunity to lead consumption patterns toward a more sustainable, resilient future that benefits all of Asia and the world.”

Beef is Southeast Asias second-fastest-growing meat category, with consumption expected to increase by around 16% by 2022 in a region that, historically, has primarily consumed fish and other seafood. 

Traceability and environmental impact
Research from Thai unio and Aleph Farms reveals 74% of Singaporeans and 97% of Thais are willing to try cultivated meat. In Singapore, a key motivator for trying cultivated meat is the environmental benefits, while in Thailand, diners favor the ability to trace the meat’s origins.

Thai unio is closely tracking changing consumer demands and the need to find new, sustainable ways to meet increased global protein demands to respond to the worlds growing population. 

Aleph Farms revealed the worlds first cultivated beef steak in 2018, produced meat in space in October 2019 and cultivated the worlds first ribeye steak earlier this year. 

The company is planning an initial market launch in 2022, pending regulatory approval.