A banner promoting Eat Just (GOOd Meat) cultivated chicken

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Studies & Numbers

Study Finds Singaporean Meat Consumers Prefer the Term ‘Cultivated Meat’

Researchers from Singapore Management University (SMU) conducted a study to determine what nomenclature used to describe cultivated meat would appeal to meat eaters, including consumers who have eaten cultivated meat in Singapore — the first country to approve the commercialization of a cultivated meat product (GOOD Meat’s cultivated chicken). According to the findings, among the terms ‘lab-grown meat’, ‘animal-free meat’, ‘cultured meat’, ‘clean meat’ or ‘cell-based meat’, ‘cultivated meat’ emerged as the preferred name and was strongly associated with positive attitudes toward this novel food.  “That ‘cultivated meat‘ was the preferred terminology is insightful. Having a single, universally accepted term to describe this novel food technology not only helps to foster greater consumer understanding and acceptance but also reduces confusion about this new food source,” says Professor Mark Chong, …

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UMAMI Bioworks, previously Umami Meats, announces a business partnership with Maruha Nichiro-

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Cultivated Seafood

UMAMI Bioworks and Japan’s Largest Seafood Company Join Forces to Bring Cultivated Seafood to Market

Cultivated seafood company UMAMI Bioworks, previously Umami Meats, announces a business partnership with Maruha Nichiro (TYO: 1333), Japan’s largest seafood company. By joining forces, the companies aim to build the infrastructure of Japan’s cultivated seafood industry. As part of the agreement, Maruha Nichiro will invest in UMAMI Bioworks, gaining access to its cell cultivation platform for producing and selling cultivated seafood. The partnership also involves a multi-faceted collaboration to scale UMAMI Bioworks’ process. Mihir Pershad, CEO of UMAMI Bioworks, comments: “Our seminal partnership with Maruha Nichiro, a global leader in crafting beloved food products, is a pivotal step in achieving our mission of addressing the challenge of feeding a growing global population while minimizing environmental impact. We have the development and production technology, but we require experienced partners with …

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Singapore NTU scientists with jackfruit developments

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Sustainability / Environment

Singapore: Scientists Are Developing Sustainable Process to Produce Lactic Acid from Jackfruit Seeds

Scientists at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore) have developed a sustainable and effective technique to produce lactic acid using discarded jackfruit seeds. Lactic acid plays an indispensable role in the industrial production and preservation of many foods. It is used at various stages of making staple foods like bread, yogurt, cheese, kimchi, sauerkraut, and pickles. In 2022, around 1.5 million tons of lactic acid were produced worldwide. Lactic acid is added to dairy products to add flavor, controls the acidity of jams and canned fruit, and extends the shelf life of packaged meat products. When baking, lactic acid provides better texture and volume to the dough. In addition, lactic acid helps emulsify dressings and sauces and preserves the bright colors of fruit and vegetables. …

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Sattvik Council of India launches its labelling certification program in Singapore.

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Company News

Sattvik Council of India Launches Vegetarian and Vegan Certification Services in Singapore

Sattvik Council of India, which claims to be the world’s first third-party vegetarian and vegan certification body and standards developer, has officially launched a new office in Singapore, Sattvik Certifications Singapore (SCSG). The services offered by SCSG, under the leadership of Director Venkataraman Kumar, encompass testing, inspection, and certification solutions for various industries and their products, including F&B, food service and hospitality, pharmaceutical, cosmetics, textiles, and cleaning. Additionally, the SCSG also launched a Buddhist manual for Singapore’s vegetarian and vegan Buddhist community. According to Abhishek Biswas, founder of the Sattvik Council of India, the vegetarian and vegan population worldwide is growing, and Singapore is the second most vegan-friendly country in Asia. SCSG seeks to help this growing community make better-informed choices by ensuring that products meet specific standards and …

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Egg Alternatives

Plant-Based Brand Hegg Enters Egg Section of Cold Storage Stores Across Singapore

Singaporean egg alternatives brand Hegg has announced a partnership with the country’s largest egg distributor, Dasoon. The collaboration will see Hegg launch at supermarket chain Cold Storage, stocked in the egg section. This is Hegg’s first supermarket launch, and also marks the first time Dasoon has entered the plant-based industry. Hegg’s flagship product, Eggless Egg, is a plant-based egg powder made from a proprietary protein blend. It has 93% less fat than a chicken egg, no major allergens, and a protein content close to that of conventional eggs. Ten grams of Eggless Egg powder are mixed with 40 grams of water to replace one egg. “We have observed the growing demand for plant-based food products and how Singaporean consumers have become more health conscious, especially …

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Calamari rings

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Agriculture / Agribusiness

Scientists Develop 3D-Printed Calamari Rings from Microalgae and Mung Bean Protein

Researchers at the National University of Singapore have developed vegan calamari rings using microalgae, mung bean proteins, and 3D printing technology. They claim that the new vegan calamari rings are tasty, high in protein, and have the potential for commercialization. The team, which aims to create alternative proteins to address overfishing and food security, unveiled their NPD at the American Chemical Society (ACS) Fall 2023. “We need to be prepared from an alternative protein point of view, especially here in Singapore, where over 90% of the fish is imported,” said Poornima Vijayan, a graduate student presenting the work at ACS. Starting with calamari According to Huang Dejian, the project’s lead researcher, plant-based options for seafood frequently fall short in terms of nutritional value, taste, and …

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Cultivated grouper fillet

Cultivated grouper fillet ©UMAMI Bioworks

Cultivated Seafood

Umami Meats Rebrands to UMAMI Bioworks as it Brings Cultivated Seafood “From Promise to Reality”

Umami Meats, the cultivated seafood producer headquartered in Singapore, recently announced the opening of a new Tokyo office as it continues to advance. In its most recent update in a string of constant developments, the company revealed yesterday its new identity as UMAMI Bioworks. The company launched in 2020, aiming to develop an efficient and cost-effective process for producing cultivated fish using cell lines from endangered species, in serum-free media and at scale. “While our early work on cell lines and growth media addressed both economics and scale, we felt that a unified engineering approach would be needed to bring cultivated from promise to reality. This idea is at the core of our rebrand,” reveals the company in an online statement. Focused on cultivating premium …

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HerbYvore's new vegan cheese range developed in Singapore

Image credit: HerbYvore

Products & Launches

Agrocorp International Launches Singapore’s First Locally Produced Vegan Cheese

Agrocorp International, a Singapore-based global agrifood supplier and parent company of the plant-based brand HerbYvore, has launched HerbY-Cheese — the first vegan cheese range developed in Singapore that mimics dairy cheese. In 2021, Agrocorp launched its HerbYvore brand in Singapore, debuting a vegan paneer made with pea protein processed at the company’s Canadian factory. Now, as part of Singapore’s “30 by 30” goals to produce local sustainable foods, Agrocorp received support from the Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT) and Enterprise Singapore to develop the new products. The cheeses were produced and tested at SIT’s subsidiary, FoodPlant, to carry out small-batch production for pilot testing of local markets before large-scale manufacturing begins, reports Straits Times.  The new range — Just Like Parme, HerbY-Cheese Mozzarella, and HerbY-Cheese Cheddar …

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Food tech leader TiNDLE Foods, formerly Next Gen Foods, announces an expansion into new categories (including milks, ice creams, and sausages) and a new brand identity

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Company News

Next Gen Foods Rebrands as TiNDLE Foods With Plans to Expand into Further Categories

Singapore’s Next Gen Foods announces its new identity as TiNDLE Foods as it expands into new categories with plans to launch further alternative meat and dairy products under the TiNDLE Foods umbrella. The company intends to introduce its inaugural selection of plant-based sausages, encompassing Bratwurst, Italian, and Savory Breakfast varieties. Following its recent acquisition of dairy startup Mwah!., TiNDLE will carry out R&D into alt dairy product development, spearheaded by co-founders Damian Piedrahita and Claudia Comini. Additionally, TiNDLE Foods reveals it is poised to unveil a diversified range of new plant-based milks and further develop its line of gelatos. Established in 2020 by Andre Menezes and Timo Recker, TiNDLE Foods has raised $130 million to date, centered on its flagship product, TiNDLE Chicken, which is …

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Roquette opens customer experience center in Singapore

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Company News

Roquette Opens Customer Center for Asian Plant-Based Innovations in Singapore

As part of its Asia Pacific Innovation Center, Roquette has launched a customer center in Singapore to support clients with plant-based innovations that suit the Asian palate. This is the third facility that the French company launched this year, including the recently opened food innovation centre in Lestrem, France. The new customer center will foster company collaborations to bring products beyond Singapore and will offer its customers the best solutions and ingredients to support the development of products — from idea to the plate. According to Roquette, since Asian customers are interested in healthier plant-based alternatives after the pandemic, the new Roquette facility will be pivotal in building innovative and sustainable food experiences to address consumers’s preferences. A report by Food Frontier has revealed that five Asian countries, …

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Everyday Vegan Discount Club

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Fundraising

Singapore’s Everyday Vegan Launches Crowdfunding Campaign for New Discount Club

Singapore’s leading physical vegan store, Everyday Vegan, has launched a crowdfunding campaign with the goal of raising $50,000 for its discount club. The club aims to make vegan products as affordable and accessible as possible. It is described as a “community-driven, conscious marketplace focused on ethical, sustainable, and healthy food choices”. The campaign is running on Indiegogo, and anyone is able to participate. Early contributors can get up to 44% off retail prices for membership, and secure exclusive lifetime passes. Everyday Vegan hopes the funding will allow it to scale up operations and serve more members. “Significant milestone” Everyday Vegan was founded in 2020 and was Singapore’s first brick-and-mortar vegan store. It stocks a huge range of products, such as fresh produce, meat and dairy …

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Sophie’s BioNutrients Develops Chlorella Ice Cream with More Iron and B12 Than Cow’s Milk

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Algae, Microalgae & Seaweed

Sophie’s BioNutrients Unveils Chlorella-Based Ice Cream Containing More Iron and B12 Than Dairy

Sophie’s BioNutrients, a B2B food tech based in Singapore, announces it has collaborated with the Danish Technological Institute (DTI) to produce a chlorella-based ice cream, which it says provides more B12 and iron than most dairy or plant-based alternatives.  Sophie’s specializes in microalgae innovations with its previous breakthroughs including the world’s first algae-based milk which was revealed in 2021, as well as the first microalgae-based cheese developed in partnership with the Ingredion Idea Labs innovation center. Provides nutrients absent in traditional dairy According to Sophie’s, a 1 oz serving of chlorella ice cream has the potential to provide double the recommended daily intake of Vitamin B12. Chlorella is also a good source of iron – a nutrient absent in cow’s milk. Furthermore, chlorella is sustainably grown …

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Shandi Global launches the world's first plant-powered shawarma

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Meat- and Fish Alternatives

Shandi Global Launches Ultra High-Protein Vegan Shawarma in Singapore and Australia

Plant-based chicken brand Shandi Global recently launched a high-protein plant-based shawarma, claiming it to be a “world’s first” at Byblos Grill in Singapore in a week-long event for global audiences.  Under the brand FOREVER by Shandi, the shawarma first debuted at FHA Food & Beverage 2023 last April. It was also recently introduced in Australia in a night market at the University of Melbourne in collaboration with UMSU International and Melbourne Alternative Protein Project. “We are thrilled to have introduced our plant-based shawarma to the global audience and look forward to continuing to offer innovative and sustainable food choices to our customers and partners worldwide!”, shared Shandi Global on LinkedIn. Expanding home and overseas The Singaporean company owns one of the country’s largest plant-based chicken facilities, producing patties, chunks, shreds, breasts, …

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Solar Foods launches first -ever Gelato made with its microbial protein

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Products & Launches

Solar Foods Launches the First Ever Gelato Replacing Dairy with Protein “Out of Thin Air”

Since its approval for sale in Singapore last year, news about Solein, the protein made out of thin air, doesn’t stop. Today, the Finnish company Solar Foods and its partner restaurant Fico are launching the world’s first Solein Chocolate Gelato in Singapore.  The debut marks the first time a food made with an animal-free protein grown from microbes using hydrogen and carbon dioxide (out of thin air) is sold to the general public. “This offers a glimpse of a future where tastes and textures are familiar, but where food arrives on our plates in an entirely new way,” said Solar Foods.  One-of-a-kind ice cream The restaurant’s chef team developed the recipe for the vegan ice cream, replacing dairy with Solein powder — removing animal agriculture from the equation. The …

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Shaka Harry

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Meat- and Fish Alternatives

Shaka Harry, Backed by Famous Cricketer MS Dhoni, Launches Huge Range of Vegan Indian Food in Singapore

Indian plant-based company Shaka Harry is expanding internationally with a first market venture into the Singaporean market. Fifteen of the company’s vegan products will launch at Mustafa Centre Singapore — a four-level retail hub and iconic shopping mall known for its 24-hour market-style shopping experience. Several marketing and promotional campaigns will support Shaka Harry’s launch in the city-state. Additionally, the company has plans to partner with local restaurants and food services to establish its presence.  Anand Nagarajan, co-founder of Shaka Harry, said: “We are confident that our products will appeal to the growing number of individuals embracing flexitarian diets and seeking healthy, delicious, and environmentally friendly food options.” Promoting plant-based diets Singapore has become a hub for the rapidly expanding alt protein industry, attracting startups in …

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Solar Foods' protein Solein used in different dishes

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Fermentation

Solar Foods’ Air Protein to Be Tasted by Public Tomorrow in “Watershed Moment” for Food History

Finland’s Solar Foods announces the debut of its microbial protein Solein in the first-ever tasting event of an air protein, taking place in Singapore tomorrow, the 25th of May. Solein, described as the world’s most sustainable protein, is developed with microbes, carbon dioxide, and electricity. Its bioprocess is free from the “burdens of agriculture” and weather events, allowing its production anywhere; in deserts, Arctic regions, and even space.  Michelin-starred chefs will explore this novel protein’s culinary possibilities in different dishes served at a fine restaurant, announces Solar Foods. Why Singapore? Singapore’s reliance on importing over 90% of its food has led the government to establish food security as a high priority. Over SG$114 million has been invested in alternative proteins as part of the government’s 30 …

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Meatable hosts tasting for cultivated meat in Singapore

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Cultivated Meat

Meatable Hosts First Tasting of Its Cultivated Meat in Singapore, Aims for 2024 Launch

Meatable has held a tasting for its cultivated meat in Singapore, inviting a select group of retail partners and the Singaporean Economic Development Board to sample cultivated pork sausages. The event was the Dutch company’s first ever tasting, and took place following approval from the Singapore Food Agency to ensure safety standards were met. For Meatable, this is an important step towards receiving regulatory approval to sell its products commercially. Feedback was very positive, with guests commenting that “the taste and texture were great” and “cultivated meat is probably the future of meat”. “The Meatable sausage I tasted today was very delicious. I wouldn’t have known if you didn’t tell me it was cultivated meat,” said Karen Tay, managing director at the distributor Classic Fine …

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Mosa Meat's scale-up facility to produce cultivated burgers

Image courtesy of Mosa Meat

Company News

Mosa Meat Opens World’s Largest Cultivated Meat Campus to Launch Cultivated Burgers

Dutch biotech company Mosa Meat opened a new 2,760 square-meter facility in Maastricht on Monday as it prepares for market entry with its first consumer product — cultivated burgers. “As this scale-up facility comes online next month, we will have the capacity to make tens of thousands of cultivated hamburgers,” said Maarten Bosch, CEO of Mosa Meat.  Unveiled last October, this fourth facility completes the Mosa C.A.M.P.U.S. (Center for Advanced Meat Production, Upscaling, and Sustainability) with a total footprint of 7,340 square meters, reportedly making it the largest cultivated meat campus in the world.  Hundreds of thousands of burgers Founded in 2016, Mosa Meat introduced the world’s first cultivated beef hamburger grown “directly” from cow cells in 2013. Through the years, the company has overcome the industry’s …

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Jungle Kitchen unveils tropical vegan range featuring indigenous ingredients & traditional cooking techniques

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Products & Launches

Jungle Kitchen Unveils Tropical Vegan Range With Indigenous Ingredients & Traditional Cooking Techniques

Singaporean startup Jungle Kitchen announces the launch of its tropical vegan range, made using Asian ingredients and traditional cooking techniques. Female-owned and female-run, the company was established by co-founders Mukeeta Manukulasuriya and Surekha Yadav to make sustainable, delicious, and creative vegan products with Asian produce such as jackfruit, coconut, chilies, and banana blossom.  Jungle Kitchen aims to bring the best of Asian cuisine and culture to global audiences and champion tropical ingredients — sourced with a verified supply chain — that have been overlooked in favor of Western produce. Tropical vegan range “Jackfruit is a good example of an ingredient that has recently gained popularity in the West, but has been a staple in Asian diets for a long time. Jungle Kitchen’s mission is to …

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Float Food is launching plant-based poached eggs and plant-based egg yolks for food service.

Image credit: OnlyEg FB

Products & Launches

Float Foods Launches Asia’s First Plant-Based Poached Egg & Egg Yolk for Food Service 

Singapore’s Float Foods is launching two new plant-based alternatives to eggs — OnlyEg Poached Eg and OnlyEg Eg Yolk — for suppliers, F&B businesses, and distributors worldwide. The brand claims the NPDs are Asia’s first commercially available plant-based poached egg and egg yolk for food service. Both OnlyEg products will debut at the Food & Hotel Asia (FHA) exhibition at the Singapore Expo from 25-28 April 2023.  “We are thrilled to introduce OnlyEg Poached Eg and Eg Yolk, which are among the first plant-based whole egg available in Asia, at FHA Singapore,” says Vinita Choolani, Founder and CEO of Float Foods. Sustainable alternatives Vinita Choolani founded Float Foods with support from the Temasek Foundation and the Enterprise Singapore Startup Scheme. The plant-based eggs are a sustainable …

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