The American startup "Eat Just," which produces lab-grown meat from animal cells, intends to establish a large facility in Qatar to position itself in the Middle East and accelerate large-scale production. "Eat Just" was the first company in the world to receive permission, in late 2020 in Singapore, to market lab-grown chicken products, which are currently consumed exclusively in restaurants. According to the company’s CEO, Josh Tetrick, it is time to move to the next stage and produce this meat in much larger quantities.
In addition to facilities in the United States and Singapore, the company announced a partnership with the Doha Small and Medium Enterprises Investment Fund and Qatari authorities to build a factory in a free zone with access to Hamad Port, which is expected to cost over 200 million dollars, according to Tetrick. Several startups have ventured into this field to produce meat from animal proteins with a lower environmental impact than that of intensive farming, but production costs remain high. Singaporean authorities are the only ones to have given the green light for such food products.
Researchers and engineers at "Eat Just," which is currently marketing products made from mung beans as an egg substitute, are seeking to develop larger vessels for growing chicken and beef cells. The company’s meat division, "Good Meat," raised 170 million dollars in May to accelerate research efforts. Qatari authorities may grant approval "very soon" for the marketing of "Eat Just" lab-grown meats, having already granted the company a license to export its products, according to Tetrick. Large-scale production, estimated in tens of millions of kilograms of meat, may begin within one and a half to three years, depending on the engineering choices made, according to Josh Tetrick.
