The cultivated or lab-grown meat industry, which has gained a foothold in Singapore, is rapidly spreading its wings to neighbouring Asian countries, including Malaysia. Cell AgriTech, a local food-tech startup, is at the forefront of the cultivated meat movement in Malaysia in collaboration with Singapore-based Umami Meats.
The company is commissioning a manufacturing plant for producing cultivated meat, fish, and seafood. Cellular meat technology will disrupt the estimated $5.6 billion Malaysian meat and fish and seafood markets, according to GlobalData.
Bobby Verghese, Consumer Analyst at GlobalData, said that lab-grown meat was less water and land intensive, involved less animal cruelty, and generated less greenhouse gas emissions than traditional livestock farming and aquaculture.
Additionally, selective cuts of animal and fish meat can be produced without undesired bones, guts, fins, and gills, which avoids processing wastage. Verghese continued that lab-grown products were free from antibiotics, growth hormones, residual pesticides, or heavy metals, and production could be scaled up or down in line with consumer demand.
Tim Hill, Key Account Director at GlobalData Singapore, said that while the plant-based meat substitutes market was booming in Asia, the cultivated meat market was just gearing up to take flight. Singapore was the only Asian country to approve commercial sales of lab-grown meat. South Korea, China, Japan, and Australia also frame laws for cellular food products.
Cultivated meat companies, such as Cell AgriTech, were lobbying for similar legislation in Malaysia. Hill continued that the Malaysian Government needs to frame stringent food safety laws to produce and commercialise cultivated meat. Given the sizable Muslim community in Malaysia, the Foreign Halal Certification Body, the agency responsible for halal certification in Malaysia, also has to develop halal certification requirements for cultivated meat and seafood.
Verghese added that production costs are quite high as the cultivated meat technology is nascent. As a result, Cell AgriTech aimed to produce only premium fish meat cuts, such as fillets of tuna, grouper, and eels, which can be priced on par with their fresh fish equivalents. Cultivating meat cells in bioreactors is energy-intensive, so the company aims to leverage solar energy to cut power costs.
"However, as technologies and processes evolve, the industry's input costs are expected to subside," said Verghese.
"Challenges aside, the outlook for cultivated meat is promising in Malaysia, given the positive attitude among Malaysians towards the concept. GlobalData's first quarter 2023 survey sheds light on this, with 51 percent of Malaysian survey respondents saying that if 'lab-grown' or 'artificially recreated' products were available, they would find them quite or very appealing."
Additionally, 38 percent of Malaysian survey respondents were motivated to try lab-cultivated food alternatives as they thought these were healthier. A sizable section of survey respondents also prioritised lab-grown meat's environmental and ethical benefits and prices.
Verghese concluded that solid domestic demand would aid Malaysian manufacturers in scaling up production efficiently. As consumption reached the required critical mass, product prices would fall due to economies of scale. Markets could also attract new players and investments, which encourage product innovation.
Authorities across the Asia-Pacific were investing in cultured meat to ensure national food security in light of the multiple meat supply disruptions in recent years due to the H1N1, African Swine Flu, COVID-19, and the Russia–Ukraine conflict.
