Malaysia could soon join Singapore to be one of the first manufacturers in the region to produce their own cultivated meat.
Cell AgriTech Sdn Bhd is setting up the country’s first cultivated meat production facility in Penang at a cost of RM20 million (US$4.5 million).
The company will start with cultivating fish meat, especially premium meats such as certain species of tuna and eel, and will attempt to sell them at competitive prices similar to slaughtered fish.
Although regulations regarding the industry are not yet clear in Malaysia, Cell Agritech aims to produce and stock cultivated meat in local retail shelves by 2025.
According to Research and Markets estimates, the global cultivated meat market is projected to grow from US$176.48 million in 2022 to US$321.71 million in 2027.
The industry is still in the early stages and local authorities have yet to finalise how Halal certification and other food-related regulations will be applied to cultivated-meat products.
However, recent optimistic comment was made by Deputy Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) Datuk Arthur Joseph Kurup who confirmed that cultivated meat technology is in line with the goals of Malaysia’s National Biotechnology Policy (NBP) 2.0 and the National Science, Technology and Innovation Policy (DSTIN) 2021-2030.
