Framework for Cultivated Meats: Singapore

Overview

Products that replicate the taste, texture and nutritional value of animal meats have seen growing consumer interest and investment. While alternative meats available today are plant-based, there is a growing market for cultured meats – also known as clean meat, lab-grown meat, and in-vitro meat – comprising animal cells grown in bioreactors.

Red meats such as beef, lamb and pork are among the highest-emitting agricultural products, largely due to ruminant methane emissions and carbon emissions associated with land-use change. Yet consumer demand remains steady. Plant-based and cultured meats are designed to offer consumers a healthier, more environmentally friendly, and cruelty-free alternative to animal meat. The segment could displace a significant portion of meat consumption and emissions if market strategies, costs and pricing, and consumer attitudes evolve.

There are a growing number of cultured meat labs, and cultured meat has been consumed in private spaces via demonstration projects, but few commercially available products exist. Cultured meats have only been approved for sale in three countries, and no products are yet available in supermarkets. Commercial viability aside, without effective regulation in place, cultured meat will not make it out of the lab.

Singapore’s food agency (SFA) developed a Novel Food Regulatory Framework to expedite the evaluation of new protein offerings. The framework entails definitions of what qualifies as ‘novel’ food, as well as required safety assessments, labeling standards and approval processes. An expert working group was also convened to advise on toxicology, nutrition, epidemiology and other food safety concerns.

Impact

In December 2020, Singapore became the first economy to approve the sale of cultivated meat when SFA ruled that a lab-grown chicken product was safe for human consumption. While many other regions have vacillated over whether to legalize the sale of similar items, the Singaporean government’s decision to move forward quickly crowded in investment and created opportunities for food startups.

Government funding helped position the city-state as a global leader in alternative proteins, spurring more market development. It provisioned S$144 million ($106 million) in 2020 and a further S$165 million ($122 million) two years later to bolster research and development efforts for sustainable urban food production, food safety science and innovation.

Eat Just, the Californian startup behind the first commercial lab-grown product, quickly attracted over $200 million in venture capital, which it invested in equipment and a 30,000 square foot Singapore facility, while selling its faux chicken in small quantities through local channels.

The approved cultivated chicken product, produced by Eat Just’s label, GOOD Meats, was made available to consumers at Huber’s Butchery in May 2024, making Huber’s the first butchery in the world to accommodate lab-grown meats. It is a frozen product made with 3% cultivated chicken and supplemented by plant-based ingredients. As the product is market tested and the technology scales, the brand could start to increase the ratio of cultivated meat to plant-based ingredients.

Blended products allow cultivated meat companies to enter the market earlier than would be feasible with fully lab-grown products, and thereby sell cultivated meats at an affordable price point. This go-to-market strategy allows consumers to acclimate to the idea of lab-grown meats while companies continue testing the technology and strive to reach economies of scale.

Opportunity

Regulatory divergence and high production costs are limiting the initial uptake of cultivated meats. While startups and investors grapple with technological limitations, concerns over unit economics and consumer skepticism, Singapore serves as a positive example for other regulators to follow.

Israel approved cultivated steak in 2024, following the US’s approval of cultivated chicken in 2023. The UK approved the technology for pet food in 2024. By 2023, there were 174 publicly announced cultivated meat companies globally, and $3.1 billion has been invested in the technology over the past decade.

However, while several countries are approving regulations, about the same number of markets are passing regulations against lab-grown products: Italy passed a full-fledged ban, while Austria and France are among European countries citing concerns that lab-grown foods will pose a threat to traditional farming methods. Even though the technology is approved in the US, some states have taken a contrary stance, with Florida and Alabama passing bans against cultivated meats.

Source

Singapore Food Agency