It has to be green, healthy and tasty

Alternative choice

Besides plant-based meat, another new type of meat is gaining traction.

Avant Meats is a Hong Kong technology company specializing in cell-cultivated meat and seafood. To cultivate the meat, cells from fish are put into a bioreactor and fed with glucose, minerals, amino acids and vitamins, says Avant Meats' CEO Carrie Chan Kai-yi.

The nurtured meat will have the natural taste and nutritional ingredients of animal protein, but carbon dioxide emissions and waste are reduced during production. The lab-grown meat produced by Avant Meats prepares to make its debut in the Singapore market, as the Lion City approved the sale of cell-cultivated meat in December 2020, the first country to do so.

Chan says COVID-19 has made people realize that pollution from the meat supply chain might affect their health and the food industry is seeking safer and healthier solutions.

Most of the processes in cultivated meat production are completed in a closed ecosystem rather than through an exposed fishery, which means that pollution can also be avoided to a certain extent, she says. "We are focusing on reducing consumption of resources, such as clean water and electricity. The supply chain is more simplified, so the carbon footprint is largely reduced," she adds.