SAN FRANCISCO– GOOD Meat, the cultivated meat division of Eat Just, Inc., a company that applies cutting-edge science and technology on a mission to create healthier, more sustainable foods, announced today that it signed an exclusive multi-year agreement with ABEC, Inc. to design, manufacture, install and commission the largest known bioreactors for avian and mammalian cell culture. With a long history of bioprocess equipment innovation, ABEC has the most experience and largest capacity in the biotech industry.
Ten 250,000-liter bioreactors will form the foundation for GOOD Meat’s large-scale cultivated meat facility, which will be located in the United States. When fully operational, the complex will have the capacity to produce up to 30 million pounds of meat without the need to slaughter a single animal.
The facility will initially produce both chicken and beef, and with the planned capacity, will be able to distribute products to millions of customers across the United States. GOOD Meat is planning to finalize site selection in the next three months and is continuing to engage with the Food and Drug Administration and U.S. Department of Agriculture on a regulatory pathway to market.
ABEC is also designing and manufacturing bioreactors for GOOD Meat’s Alameda, Calif. headquarters, scheduled to be operational in Q4 2022, and for a Singapore facility slated to open in Q1 2023. The Singapore buildout will help meet growing consumer demand for GOOD Meat’s products, which have been available for purchase there since December 2020. GOOD Meat remains the only cultivated meat manufacturer in the world to secure regulatory approval.
“Our first step was receiving regulatory approval and launching in Singapore. Our second step has been selling to customers through restaurants, street vendors and delivery platforms. We’ve learned that consumers want this, and we’re ready to take the next step to make this happen at commercial scale. I am very proud to partner with the ABEC team to make this historic facility happen,” said Josh Tetrick, co-founder and CEO of Eat Just.
With North American manufacturing facilities in Springfield, Mo., and Bethlehem, Pa., ABEC has been a bioreactor technology leader through much of the biotech era. The company developed the first production-scale bioreactors in the 1980s and the first bioreactors larger than 10,000 liters in the 1990s.
“We are proud that our capabilities will help enable this exciting new industry. We look forward to continuing our tradition of innovation and supporting GOOD Meat’s success,” said Scott Pickering, CEO and Chairperson of ABEC.
