The Middle East and North African region might still be stranger to the idea of eating meat grown in a laboratory, but now an American startup Eat Just has tied up with Doha Venture Capital (DVC) and Qatar Free Zones Authority (QFZ) to build the first-ever cultivated meat facility in the region.
The large-scale plant, to be built in Qatar’s Umm Alhoul Free Zone, will house Eat Just’s cultured meat division, GOOD Meat, which creates meat made from animal cells instead of slaughtered livestock.
“The hub will be staffed with research and development, engineering and business development professionals,” a statement said.
“This will be the first facility in the protein innovation space in QFZ and the Gulf.”
Cultured meat is created by feeding nutrients to cells extracted from an egg or living animal. The cultured meat market could grow to $140 billion by 2030, according to Blue Horizon Corp., an investing company.
Early this year, Just Food raised $200 million in a funding round led by sovereign wealth fund Qatar Investment Authority (QIA).
According to the statement, there are plans to also set up a protein processing facility in the free zone for Eat Just’s plant-based egg division.
“(The free zone) and the Ministry of Public Health have indicated their intention to grant regulatory approval for GOOD Meat cultivated chicken very soon and have formally granted an export license for the pioneering product,” the statement said.