The first plant-based protein production facility in Asia is located in Singapore’s Jurong Industrial Zone and is expected to be operational within two years, providing the Singapore and Asian markets with plant-based protein for food products such as plant-based eggs and plant-based meat.
A consortium led by U.S. plant-based protein producer Eat Just and investment management firm Proterra Investment Partners Asia earlier announced an investment of US$120 million (approximately S$162.9 million) to build the facility in Singapore. The investor recently revealed more Details.
The factory will be built on 2.7 hectares of land, roughly the size of five football fields, and is expected to produce thousands of metric tons of plant protein annually.
Saurabh Bajaj, president of Eat Just Asia, revealed in an interview that the new facility is expected to be put into operation within two years. By then, the number of plant-based eggs that can be made from plant protein from the factory is equivalent to the total number of eggs currently required by the Singapore market. The ratio”.
Eat Just already has such large production facilities in North America and Germany. The Singapore Food Authority last year approved the company’s cultured chicken to be put on the country’s shelves.
Plant protein is the main ingredient in making plant eggs and plant meat. The plant-based protein produced at the new local facility will be based on mung beans. The protein content of mung beans is high, ranging from 25% to 28%, which is a high-quality natural plant protein. The production process is to separate the protein of mung bean, and add the protein isolate to turmeric and other ingredients for processing, and then it can be used to make food such as vegetable eggs or cultivated meat.
To reduce waste, by-products such as fiber and starch left over from the separation process are sold to other companies. Fiber can be used to make paper or added to animal feed, and edible starch can be used to make food such as rice flour.
The new facility will also bring many job opportunities to Singapore. Baja said that the exact figures in this regard cannot be provided at this stage, but the company has hired some Singaporeans, and will hire scientists, engineers, management and financial personnel, and the Singaporean workforce will be dominated by Singaporeans.
The groundbreaking ceremony for the new facility was officiated by Minister of State for Trade and Industry and Minister of State for Culture, Community and Youth, Mrs Lau Yan Ling.
In an interview, Liu Yanling pointed out that the Singapore government has been working hard in recent years to strengthen the resilience of the supply chain, and this new facility can contribute to ensuring sufficient supplies of necessities and food in Singapore.
She said the facility could help Singapore achieve its “Vision 30.30” for food supply, which is to produce agricultural products that meet the nutritional needs of 30% of the local population by 2030 or before.
“This can greatly enhance local production capacity and complement our strategy to ensure adequate stocks and diversify import sources, especially eggs are an important source of nutrition for Singaporean families.”
Liu Yanling said that vegetable eggs are no different from the eggs she usually eats. The reporter also found that the taste of vegetable eggs is similar to Japanese omelets, which is not too far from ordinary eggs.