Eat Just, the US food tech leader, has entered into a joint development agreement with agrifoods giant Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) to accelerate production in the GOOD Meat cultivated division. The partnership marks ADM’s first strategic partnership of its kind in the cultivated meat sector, as the US multinational food corporation continues to diversify in the alt protein sector.
Eat Just, famous for its JUST Egg brand, started its GOOD Meat division in 2017 and became the first in the world to sell its cultivated chicken to diners, as well as becoming the most funded company in the emerging industry. The company states its first-of-its-kind partnership with ADM highlights how startups like Eat Just can work with established industry leaders to reach their joint mission of creating healthier, more sustainable foods.
With analysts predicting cultivated meat to be a $25 billion global industry by 2030, the partnership aims to leverage ADM’s capabilities across every part of the global food chain, establishing an important pathway to large-scale commercialization of GOOD Meat’s products starting with chicken. As part of the agreement, ADM will build upon GOOD Meat’s foundational work to optimize the nutrients needed to enable the growth of the cells.
“To millions of consumers tomorrow”
ADM continues to grow its footprint in the alt protein sector, after recently investing $300 million to expand its alt protein production facilities, growing its global alt protein production capacity by more than 30%. Meanwhile, Eat Just has recently started construction on the largest plant-protein factory in Singapore, to be the base of its Asian operations.
“ADM has been making and innovating in food over 120 years. We are proud to partner with their incredibly talented team of scientists and engineers to take cultivated meat from a few restaurants today to millions of consumers tomorrow,” stated Josh Tetrick, co-founder and CEO of Eat Just.
“ADM has long been a pioneer in the alternative protein industry, and our strategic focus right now is on developing innovative new technology and solutions to continue expanding our capabilities to serve the fast-growing global demand for protein-based nutritional needs,” added Leticia Gonçalves, ADM’s president, Global Foods.
