Aleph Farms and Mitsubishi Corporation’s Food Industry Group signed a Memorandum of Understanding to bring cultivated meat to the Japanese market. Aleph Farms will provide its Biofarm manufacturing platform for cultivation of whole-muscle steaks. Mitsubishi Corporation will support with biotechnology processes, branded food manufacturing, and local distribution channels in Japan.
“The MoU with Mitsubishi Corporation’s Food Industry Group marks an important milestone for us, as we methodically build the foundations of our global go-to-market activities with selected partners,” said Didier Toubia, co-founder and CEO of Aleph Farms.
The Food Industry Group of the Mitsubishi Corporation covers food resources, fresh foods, consumer products, and food ingredients, and is active in every link of the food supply chain, from the production and sourcing of raw materials to the manufacturing of finished food products.
“The cooperation demonstrates Aleph Farms’ strategy of working together with the food and meat industries to ensure a successful integration of cultivated meat within the ecosystem, while maximizing the positive impact we make,” added Toubia. “We are excited to bring cultivated meat production closer to the Japanese market.”
This cooperation aims to assist in the fight against climate change, in light of the Japanese government’s goal of achieving zero greenhouse gas emissions. In April 2020, Aleph Farms committed to eliminating emissions associated with its meat production by 2025 and reach the same net-zero emissions across its entire supply chain by 2030.
As the demand for meat continues to rise with evolving lifestyles, the cooperation will aim to provide actionable solutions to overcome the societal challenges to the local population surrounding the domestic meat supply. This includes implementing stable food channels of quality nutrition.
“This is part of a network of ‘BioFarm to Fork’ strategic partnerships being developed by Aleph Farms in APAC, LATAM, and Europe, following the successful 2019 Round-A strategic investment by Cargill and the Migros Group in Switzerland,” said Gary Brenner, VP of Market Development at Aleph Farms.
