Mitsubishi enters the cultured meat market
A partnership between Israel-based cellular agriculture startup Aleph Farms and the Mitsubishi Corporation’s Food Industry Group allows the Japanese company to have access to the technology to create lab-grown meat and distributed in the Japanese market. Under a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) agreement signed this month, the Israeli part will provide its BioFarm manufacturing platform for use of cultivating whole-muscle steaks on a large scale, while the Mitsubishi Corporation will provide its expertise in biotechnology processes, branded food manufacturing, and local distribution channels in Japan.
"The MoU with Mitsubishi Corporation’s Food Industry Group marks an important milestone for us, as we methodically build the foundations of our global go-to-market activities with selected partners. The cooperation demonstrates Aleph Farms’ strategy of working together with the food and meat industries to ensure a successful integration of cultivated meat within the ecosystem while maximizing the positive impact we make. We are excited to bring cultivated meat production closer to the Japanese market," Aleph Farms Co-Founder and CEO Didier Toubia said.
The Israeli firm produced its first cell-based steak in 2018 and since then the startup has increased the portion of the meat produced in a lab, making it viable for large scale production and commercialization. The partnership is considered to help Japan reach its climate target goals over the next 10 years and to help the country become more protein independent.
Currently, Aleph Farms and the Mitsubishi Corporation are part of the “Cellular Agriculture Study Group,” a consortium implementing policy proposals under the Japanese Center for Rule-Making Strategy in an effort to help define the standards around the emerging industry and help slaughter-free meat overcome the hurdle of regulatory approval, informs the VegNews magazine.
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