The Singapore Food Agency has given its approval for the sale of lab-grown steak, or specifically ‘Thin-Cut Steaks’, from the Israeli cleantech company Aleph Farms.
This will make Singapore the 2nd country after Israel to approve the sale of cultivated beef. The market launch however will be scheduled only in 2027.
As of now, Aleph Farms has successfully raised US$147 million in capital, and it operates a 6,000 sq.metre production facility in Rehovot, Israel with a production capacity of 10 metric tonnes of cultured steak annually.
Singapore is now one of the first markets where the company can sell its cultured beef to consumers. Aleph Farms anticipates further regulatory approvals from other countries in 2027. The approval supports the company’s regional hub strategy, as Singapore will serve as the base for the Asia-Pacific region going forward. So far, Aleph Farms has also submitted approval applications in the UK, Switzerland and Thailand. An application for EU approval of cultured meat has also been filed, though a decision is still pending.
Aleph Farms’ main route of commercialisation will be via the foodservices segment, as it seeks to partner with select restaurant establishments. This will then be followed by retail distribution. In Singapore, its manufacturing partner is Cell Agritech, and it will help expand the latter’s local capacity to support future demand.
According to a spokesperson from Aleph Farms, the existing Thin-Cut Steak is made from a combination of cultivated beef (up to 20%) with plant-protein ingredients.
For Aleph Farms, the success in gaining approval in Singapore represents a major win for the company as Singapore has one of the world’s strictest food standards in this region, thereby making it a good springboard for expansion to neighbouring countries.
