Japanese Wagyu farm and genetics company signs partnership with a California-based lab-grown meat startup.
Toriyama Ranch, a Japanese ranch renowned for its Wagyu genetics, has signed a partnership with JUST, a California-based lab-grown meat startup. The plan is to start out with cell-cultured Wagyu ground beef hamburgers that can be marketed to a wider audience, informs Drovers magazine.
“The point is to deliver deliciousness to everyone”, points out Wataru Toriyama, owner of the Toriyama Ranch and vice-president of the Toriyama Farming and Food. “We’re gonna make a damn burger and it’s going to taste like a Wagyu burger from Japan”, completed Josh Tetrick, CEO of JUST. His company started under the name Hampton Creek, a food manufacturing startup that has created such products as eggless-mayonnaise and plant-based egg alternatives.
A third party included in this deal is meat and seafood exporter Awano Food Group. “I’ve been in the meat industry for 30 years now. I think JUST’s way of thinking about the products of the future is how the world will consume protein within 20 years,” explains Rod Martin, Awano executive.
