China To Open Its First Cultivated Meat Production Facility

EAT

Feb 6

Cultivated meat - meat that’s grown in a lab from animal cells rather than from a farmed animal - could be a more sustainable solution to feed China’s population of 1.4 billion people.

CellX and Tofflon signing their historic new partnership to launch China’s first cultivated meat production facility. Credit: CellX

China is set to open its first production facility for cultivated meat, in a move that could signal the future of a more sustainable food system in the country.

Cellular agriculture company CellX - which produces animal meat directly from animal cells rather than through farming animals - has teamed up with equipment and production company Tofflon to launch the pilot facility for cultivated meat.

This partnership from the two Shanghai-based companies will be China’s first “transparent food space” for cultivated meat, offering Research & Development, a pilot production plant, and public tasting.

The facility aims to accelerate the scaling up of CellX’s cultivated meat products, and will offer commercial production on both a local and global scale.

Consumers will be able to taste CellX’s demo products, which will be cultivated directly from the production plant’s multiple thousand-litre bioreactors.

"Besides being the world’s largest meat market, China is also an emerging leader in the field of bio-manufacturing,” explained Ziliang Yang, co-founder and CEO of CellX. “Thanks to its booming biotech industry, China is quickly building a strong infrastructure and supply chain.”

“As part of our strategic partnership, the construction of a pilot facility is the cornerstone of CellX's journey to scale up cultivated meat production in China. I look forward to working with Tofflon to bring cultivated meat to consumers in China and around the world", added Yang.

Cultivated meat is projected to become a key solution in creating a more sustainable and ethical global food system. The process creates ‘real’ meat, but it is cultivated and grown directly from animal cells, rather than a farmed animal. This means that the food industry could theoretically eliminate the need to breed, raise, and slaughter millions of farmed animals around the world each year.

Feeding China’s Growing Population

China is a huge growing market for meat consumption, and already consumes more than half of all the pork produced worldwide. Thats led to the ongoing construction of huge farms across the country, including new pig breeding facilities where thousands of pigs are ‘farmed’ and slaughtered in specifically-built high-rise buildings.

A 26-storey factory farm ‘skyscraper’ in the central Hubei province, recently became the largest single-building factory farm in the world, with the capacity to house around 650,000 animals at any one time.

The increase of intensive farms like these have drawn criticism about animal welfare, sustainability, and the risk of new infectious diseases that could also pass over to the human population.

But alongside the increase in animal farming, there’s also a growing appetite for plant-based and alternative proteins too. Mainstream franchises like McDonald’s, Starbucks, and KFC have all recently trialled plant-based meats in the country, including Beyond Meat beef and plant-based Omnipork.

One of Starbucks China’s meat-free dishes, the OMNIPORK Vietnamese Style Noodle Salad. Credit: Starbucks

And with companies like CellX set to bring cultivated meat to the country’s population too, there is hope that China’s food system could take a more sustainable approach by increasing its consumption of animal-free meat.

Listen to our podcast episode Plant-Based China, where we talk with Albert Tseng, co-founder of Dao Foods and an expert in the alternative protein companies who are transforming the Chinese market. Listen here.

With animals, people, and the planet in desperate need of solutions for change, what we eat matters now more than ever. And we all have a role to play in transforming the current food system. Try our free 7-day vegan challenge to learn how to live in line with your animal-loving values.

We Have A Favor To Ask…

Species Unite amplifies well-researched solutions to some of the most abusive animal industries operating today.

At this crucial moment, with worldwide momentum for change building, it’s vital we share these animal-free solutions with the world - and we need your help.

We’re a nonprofit, and so to keep sharing these solutions, we’re relying on you - with your support, we can continue our essential work in growing a powerful community of animal advocates this year.

Share on facebook

Share on Twitter