Invests RM20 million to bring cost-effective portfolio of cultivated meat, starting with tuna and eel
Malaysian firm Cell AgriTech Sdn Bhd is setting up the country’s first cultivated meat production facility in Penang worth some RM20 million. The new facility will span three to four acres in size, with a 1,000-liter production volume.
Cultivated meat is made by growing the stem cells of meat from animals in a device called a bioreactor. Cultivated meat as being safer than meat from slaughtered animals – supposedly being free of antibiotics and zoonotic diseases
Cell Agritech’s plant will start by focusing on cultivating fish meat, especially premium meats, such as certain species of tuna and eel — and attempt to sell it at a matching price with the same type of meat sourced from slaughtered animals. The goal is to achieve price parity with conventional seafood.
Cell AgriTech plans to be in full production by mid of 2025 while regulatory approval is under progress for cultivated meat. The company made the factory announcement during the first Malaysia Cultivated Meat Conference held at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Center in March 2023. The US Food and Drug Administration and its Department of Agriculture are still evaluating the product.
Cell AgriTech founder and vice-president of manufacturing Jason Ng Chin Aik said that cultivated meat can cut down on food wastage, as many inedible parts of slaughtered animals are usually thrown away.
Explaining the food production process, Mihir Pershad, founder of Singapore-based Umami Meats — which is sharing its technology and expertise with Cell AgriTech — said that the stem cells in the bioreactor are fed a “Gatorade-like solution”. The plant in question will be using “immortalised cell lines” that allows the company to perpetually cultivate meat for “decades” after sourcing cells from a single slaughtered animal source.
Representatives from several national universities, the Islamic Development Department of Malaysia, the Health Ministry, the Agriculture and Food Security Ministry, and also the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation attended.
The global cultivated meat market is expected to grow from $176.48 million (RM791.87 million) in 2022, to $321.71 million (RM1.44 billion) by 2027. Singapore was the first country to approve cultivated meat products for sale, back in 2020. Cell Agritech is currently working on qualifying suppliers that may potentially be more environmentally friendly
