World’s Biggest Meat Producer To Build Largest Ever Cultivated Beef Protein Plant
Meat giant JBS says the plant will produce up to 4,000 tons of cultivated meat each year, as it looks to meet the global demand for protein in a more sustainable and healthy way.
Current animal-free protein products by BioTech, a subsidiary of JBS who will be operating the new plant. Credit: BioTech
Brazilian food company JBS, known as the world’s biggest meat producer, has announced that it is opening the industry’s largest ever cultivated beef protein plant.
Following a $41 million investment from JBS, construction work has already begun on the plant, which will be run by subsidiary BioTech Foods.
Located in San Sebastián, Spain, the plant will initially produce over a thousand tons of cultivated protein per year, with expansion plans upping annual capacity to up to 4,000 tons.
Cultivated meat - also known as lab-grown or cell-based meat - is projected to become a key solution in creating a more sustainable and ethical global food system. The process creates ‘real’ meat, but it is cultivated and grown directly from animal cells, rather than a farmed animal.
One of BioTech’s past animal-free protein products. Credit: BioTech
“As the largest global producer of protein, it is our responsibility to be at the forefront of the initiatives where food and technology intersect”, says Eduardo Noronha, a director of JBS USA. “The new hub at San Sebastián will enable BioTech to offer cultivated protein as an innovative product that will meet the consumer demand for healthy, tasty and sustainable food products”.
Cultivated Meat Could Feed A Growing Global Population
JBS says the plant is part of diversifying its portfolio and will help propel a global push towards more sustainable protein sources. The company points out that the UN Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that cultivated protein will help address the increase of 135 percent in the global demand for protein by 2050.
According to JBS, its cultivated meat products will target already identified key markets, which include Australia, Brazil, the European Union, Japan, Singapore and the United States.
“BioTech Foods has the technology and capacity to produce protein on a large scale in a sustainable and innovative manner, addressing commercial needs around the world”, explained Iñigo Charola, co-founder and CEO of BioTech Foods. “Given the challenges imposed on global supply chains, cultivated protein has the potential to stabilize food security and global protein production”.
In addition to its new plant in Spain, JBS has also previously announced a cultivated protein research and development center in the Brazilian state of Santa Catarina. The center will receive an estimated $60 Million to develop cutting-edge technology for producing alternative proteins.
JBS - Could The Meat Giant Help Drive Change?
Although JBS’ future plans may include animal-free protein that could help create positive change, many campaigners will likely remain skeptical of the company, which has continually been accused of unethical and illegal practices from deforestation to human rights abuses.
A projected visual of the world’s biggest cultivated beef production plant. Credit: JBS
Regularly ranked as the world’s biggest meat producer, JBS has been linked to multiple instances of illegal deforestation in Brazil, where wildlife habitats and ecosystems are destroyed to make way to farm corn and soy for animal feed. Campaigners say that the company’s current policy allows illegal deforestation of the Amazon region until 2025, and legal deforestation globally for a further ten years.
The Brazilian company has also been accused of using slave labor in parts of its supply chains, with exploited workers reportedly kept in “slavery-like conditions” and paid around $11 per day.
And in a recent report on the state of factory farming, JBS was among five companies that collectively slaughter over 11 billion chickens and 150 million pigs every year.
In 2023 and beyond, Species Unite will continue to champion solutions including cultivated meat that can help transition the world away from animal products. Join our community by becoming a member today, and check out our Future of Food podcast episodes to learn more about cellular agriculture.
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