• Leading food tech company Meatable to build the world’s first Future of Meat innovation centre for harm-free meat with Asia’s first plant-based butcher Love Handle
• The innovation centre to develop hybrid products, indistinguishable from real meat and containing a combination of cultivated meat and plant-based materials
• Meatable will invest over $60 million and employ more than 50 people over the next five years in Singapore
• The partnership was brought together by the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB), a government agency supporting the alternative protein sectors through innovation

Singapore, 16 November: Meatable, the innovative Dutch food tech company on a mission to deliver cultivated meat at scale, will establish the Future of Meat innovation centre in Singapore in partnership with plant-based butcher Love Handle. With a shared vision to create products to satisfy the world’s growing demand for meat without harming the environment, the two will collaborate on developing hybrid meat products – using both cultivated meat and plant-based materials to develop innovative foods that are indistinguishable from real meat. The innovation centre will be located in Singapore to serve the global market.

Innovating the Future of Meat

The Future of Meat innovation centre will be the first kitchen and innovation lab dedicated to developing and innovating world-class hybrid alternative protein products and associated intellectual property. It will house some of the best machinery and materials to drive next-level innovation in hybrid meat and plant-based products. The two companies will launch the centre in 2023, and jointly invest around $6 million, and employ a team in Singapore.

On top of food-innovation kitchen equipment like high-end blenders, mixers, and emulsification equipment, the lab will also include bespoke equipment designed specifically for the development of cell and plant alternative protein innovations. These include high moisture extrusion equipment and industrial texture and taste analysers to optimise recipes. The lab will have the capacity for small-scale production.

Krijn de Nood, co-founder and CEO of Meatable, said: “We’re delighted to announce this partnership with Love Handle to build the world’s first innovation centre for hybrid cultivated meat products. Together we’re going to spearhead the development of hybrid products for the Singapore and global markets and help foster innovation among other alternative protein producers. Our vision is to satisfy the world’s growing appetite for meat without harming the environment, animals, or people.”

The innovation centre will also feature an experience centre for hosting customer and consumer tastings so that people can taste the delicious products themselves. A retail space will complete the innovation centre for consumers to buy products to try in-store and at home. The building will also include offices, with space for other plant-based players to help commercialise their products.

Meatable was founded in the Netherlands in 2018 to produce cultivated meat that looks like, tastes like, and has the nutritional profile of traditional meat. Love Handle is Asia’s first plant-based butcher, established in 2020. Its innovative products include pastrami from jackfruit, chicken breast, chicken satay, beef steak, and sausages.

Fast-tracking the development of cultivated meat

As leaders in their respective fields, Meatable and Love Handle are coming together to create the world’s first Future of Meat innovation centre to serve consumer demand for harm-free meat. With an aim to launch the centre in 2023, the two companies will jointly invest around $6 million and employ up to 10 people locally.

The partnership marks an expansion in Meatable’s strategy to help bring cultivated meat to the market faster. Its new hybrid products will be developed with a cultivated meat-led approach, which uses plant-based protein to optimise the properties of cultivated meat. Meatable expects to deliver completely new hybrid products that are indistinguishable from traditional meat. They will retain the familiar bite, taste, and texture integral to the eating experience.

Together Meatable and Love Handle will commercialise the hybrid products with the expectation to have a range of hybrid meat products, including dumplings, pulled pork, pork belly, meatballs, cold cuts and patties, which will be available in local restaurants first in 2024 and supermarkets in 2025.

Investing in Singapore

The partnership with Love Handle is the next step in Meatable’s expansion in Singapore and was brought together by the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB), a government organisation tasked with supporting Singapore’s position as a leading innovation hub. The country was the first to approve cultivated meat in 2020 as part of its 30 by 30 strategy, which aims to build up its agri-food industry’s capability and capacity by producing 30 percent of its nutritional needs locally and sustainably by 2030.

Ken Kuguru, co-founder and CEO of Love Handle, said: “The new innovation centre we’re setting up with Meatable will help us develop new hybrid and plant-based meat products as well as provide a space for existing plant-based players to further drive innovation in the food industry. We’re looking forward to working closely with Meatable and for consumers to be able to try these new and exciting products as early as next year.”

This follows the announcement last month that Meatable is partnering with the CMDO ESCO Aster, the first and only global production facility with regulatory approval to produce cultivated meat, to produce Meatable’s cultivated pork products in Singapore. These partnerships are part of Meatable’s wider plans in Singapore, which will invest over $60m and employ more than 50 people over the next five years.

Driving innovation in the food industry

Meatable is committed to investing in products and countries to enable the growth of cultivated meat in what is predicted to become a $25 billion industry by 2030. In the future, Meatable believes cultivated meat will be available on supermarket shelves and in restaurants along with plant-based products.

About Meatable

Meatable is an innovative Dutch food company aiming to deliver, at scale, the new natural, cultivated meat that looks like, tastes like, and has the nutritional profile of traditional meat. Its proprietary opti-ox™ technology enables Meatable to produce meat rapidly, sustainably, and without harming animals. Founded in 2018 by Krijn de Nood (CEO), Daan Luining (CTO), and Dr. Mark Kotter (principal inventor of opti-ox technology), Meatable has brought together a team of experts with unique knowledge in fields including molecular biology, chemistry, tissue engineering, bioprocess development, food safety, and food science to create the new natural meat. The company has raised $60 million in funding from leading life science and food investors, including Section 32, DSM Venturing, BlueYard Capital, Agronomics, and Dr Rick Klausner. Follow Meatable: LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook.

About Love Handle

Love Handle is Asia’s first plant-based butcher with the largest curation of plant-based meats, dairy and condiments. We are on a mission to deliver flavour that’s good for the planet; or in other words, plant-based deliciousness created to satiate meat lovers. At our Butcher Showroom and e-commerce marketplace, we offer an authentic cut, weigh, and package experience just like the butchers you’ve always known. At our current innovation hub, we support industry players and start-ups in the development and creation of next-gen alternative protein innovations. Join the revolution https://lovehandle.sg