News about the construction of the world's largest bioreactor has announced that it will be used to produce artificial meat and may supply tens of thousands of shops and restaurants Experts said the move may change the "rules of the game" of this emerging industry. Good meat, an American company, said that the bioreactor would grow more than 13000 tons of chicken and beef every year.
It will use cells extracted from cell banks or eggs, that is, the meat will not be slaughtered.
It is reported that about 170 companies in the world are studying meat culture, but good meat is the only company approved by the regulatory authorities to sell its products to the public. It began to provide cultured chickens in Singapore in december2020.
Cattle, chickens and other livestock have a huge impact on the environment due to methane emissions, forest destruction and water use. Scientists say traditional meat consumption in rich countries must fall sharply to overcome the climate crisis. Proponents of meat culture say that although it can provide the same taste and feel as traditional meat, it has a much smaller impact on the environment.
According to the company, 10 new bioreactors of good meat are under construction. Each reactor has a capacity of 250000 liters and will be four stories high, far greater than any built so far. It is reported that the plant in the United States will be completed within three months and put into use by the end of 2024. By 2026, it will reach 11800 tons of products per year, and by 2030, it will reach 13700 tons.
The manufacturing of bioreactor is part of the agreement reached with ABEC, a leading bioprocess equipment manufacturer. ABEC is also manufacturing a 6000 liter bioreactor for good meat's Singapore plant - the reactor is planned to start production in early 2023, and will become the largest aquaculture meat bioreactor installed so far.
"I think our grandchildren will ask us why we still eat the meat of slaughtered animals in 2022," said Josh tetrick, CEO of eat just, the parent company of good eat, "Cultivating meat is very important because it will enable us to eat meat without any harm, without bulldozing forests, slaughtering animals, using antibiotics and accelerating animal infectious diseases. This bioreactor will become the largest (reactor) so far , not only in the meat growing industry but also in the biopharmaceutical industry. Therefore, the challenges in design and engineering are huge, and the capital investment is also huge. The potential to take another step towards keeping the society away from slaughtering meat is huge. "
One problem will be to ensure that meat cells grow as well in large reactors as in small reactors used so far.
At present, cultured meat has not been approved for sale by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Tetrick said, "we have submitted our application. We find that the agency is fully involved and asking all the questions you expect, from cell identification to the final product. We don't want to try to predict whether (APPROVAL) and when it will happen." In addition, he also said that the company has produced a cell growth serum that does not require the use of previously widely used bovine embryos.
Caroline Bushnell, vice president of the good food institute, a non-profit organization, said: "the size of the (good eat) factory represents the real and growing confidence of enterprises in the commercial potential of growing meat. This factory has the potential to reduce production costs, and it may change the rules of the game in the competition of bringing cell cultured meat to restaurants, supermarkets and tables.
Rosie Wardle, a partner and co-founder of synthesis capital, said: "this announcement is another example of how the meat industry has reached an inflection point and moved from 'proof of concept' to commercial scale. As investors, we are excited about the potential of this part of the alternative protein industry to play an important role in food in the future." Synthesis capital announced on Wednesday a $300million fund to invest in alternative protein and food technologies, the largest special fund ever raised in this field.