San Francisco-based start-up Eat Just has announced plans to build a cell-cultivated meat production facility in Qatar, which would be the first of its kind in the Middle East and Northern Africa (MENA) region.
The company has partnered with state-funded Doha Venture Capital and the Qatar Free Zones Authority to build the manufacturing plant, which will open in two years.
According to CEO Josh Tetrick, the company selected Qatar due to the country’s openness to cultivated meat and interest in food security-focused innovations.
“Our team is grateful to take the next step in our global expansion in Qatar. Their commitment to accelerating our work in building a more sustainable food system was apparent from day one,” said Tetrick.
The move points to Qatar becoming the second country in the world to enable the sale of cultivated meat. The country’s Ministry of Public Health has indicated its intent to grant regulatory approval of Eat Just’s cultivated meat products but no timeline has been specified.
Tetrick said the US$271M plant will initially produce the company’s GOOD Meat cultivated chicken, but will eventually expand to produce its JUST Egg cultivated eggs.
The company said its Qatar facility would be larger than its planned manufacturing plant in Singapore, which was the first country to approve the sale of cultivated chicken.
READ MORE: Eat Just to Build Cultured-Meat Plant in Qatar Amid Global Push [Bloomberg]