US – Alternative meat company Eat Just has secured a new partnership with ingredient and commodities giant Archer Daniels Midland in an effort to improve the quality of its cultivated meat products.
The two companies will work together to optimize cell growth media and improve taste and texture of cultivated meat products produced by Eat Just’s Good Meat division.
The partnership which includes an undisclosed investment in Eat Just is a perfect place for ADM to fit into this industry as the ingredients giant is already one of the largest producers of animal feed.
A press release about the partnership says that ADM is basically going to be doing that for Eat Just, but with a 21st century twist: “supplying the [cultivated meat] industry with superior livestock feed, supplements, and other ingredients for health and wellbeing.”
Improving the flavor, texture and other sensorial attributes of Good Meat products also fits into ADM’s business model.
ADM has long worked with alternative proteins, especially plant-based products, and has a partnership with Brazil-based meat producer Marfrig to create plant-based meat products since 2020.
ADM also recently announced it was investing US$300 million to expand its physical footprint in alternative proteins, both on the factory and production level and in terms of R&D.
Impossible Foods lands in the UK
Meanwhile, Eat Just peer and competitor California-based Impossible Foods has entered the UK market with the launch of plant-based chicken nuggets and sausage patties.
Impossible Foods revealed that its UK products have been formulated without its flagship soy leghemoglobin ingredient, which is not yet approved in the UK or the EU.
The company plans to introduce its plant-based chicken nuggets and sausage patties in around 300 UK restaurants and foodservice outlets in May , expanding to “thousands” of locations by the end of the year.
A UK retail launch is planned for later this year even as the company mulls local manufacturing options subject to its performance in the market where chicken is the most commonly consumed meat per capita.
Impossible’s move across the Atlantic comes just over three years after rival Beyond Meat entered the UK market with its plant-based burgers, which are now sold at all the major food retailer and every McDonald’s outlet in the UK and Ireland.
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