US Site's Large-Scale Facility to Produce 15,000 Tons of Lab-Grown Meat Per Year Without Animal Slaughter Will Be Finished Later This Year

There are about 170 lab-grown meat companies around the world, which include SuperMeat, Mosa Meat, Future Meat Technologies, and even the seafood producers Wildtype and Shiok Meats. But only GOOD Meat has gained regulatory approval to sell its product to the public and has started selling cultivated chicken meat in 2020 in Singapore.

GOOD Meat just announced its plan to build the world's largest bioreactors that will produce lab-grown meat with the possibility of supplying to tens of thousands of shops and restaurants. Experts have called this move a real "gamechanger" for the rising industry of cultivated meat.

GOOD Meat's Huge Bioreactors to Begin Production in 2024

GOOD Meat, the lab-grown meat division of Eat Just, Inc., announced in a press release via Business Wire that it will be building 10 250,000-liter bioreactors that can produce up to 15,000 tons of meat every year without slaughtering an animal. They plan to select a site for the facility in the next three months in hopes of opening a branch in the country later this year.

Eat Just, Inc.'s CEO said in an interview that cultivated meat matters because it will allow people to eat meat without harming animals, the need to use antibiotics, and the risk of zoonotic diseases spreading. He added that perhaps someday, future generations may wonder why people once used to slaughter animals for their meat.

Raising livestock has a huge environmental impact because of the methane emissions, deforestation, and water use involved. Scientists have said the consumption of meat from conventional means must dramatically be reduced to address the climate crisis. They hope that cultivated meat with the same taste and fee as real meat will help address the current climate crisis.

GOOD Meat added that the US site for the facility will be finished later this year and will be fully operational in late 2024. It will produce 11,800 tons of meat by 2026 and increase each year. In Singapore, GOOD Meat's 6,000-liter bioreactor is also expected to begin production in 2023.

If the 10 bioreactors in the US become fully operational by their target date, they will be the largest in the cultivated meat and biopharma industry. That means the design, engineering, and capital investments are significant to move away from consuming slaughtered meat.

GOOD Meat's Cultivated Meat Will Be Made From Cells of Eggs

GOOD Meat has prided its lab-grown meat on being 100% cultivated as it does not require animal slaughter in production. Despite that, Futurism reports that the company will be using cells from cell banks or eggs. That means raising chickens in factories might still be involved in the process.

Although their products are being sold in Singapore, the company is still in the stage of seeking approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for public sale. For now, there is no tentative date yet when that will be approved.

The scale of the company's facility represents real and growing confidence in the nascent industry and its potential to go commercial. Good Food Institute vice president Caroline Bushnell said that this plant has the potential to decrease production costs and could be the gamechanger in the race to bring lab-grown meat to shops, restaurants, and homes.

Check out more news and information on Lab-Grown Meat in Science Times.