Dutch food startups for the development of cultured meat and new food types are seeking international cooperation in Singapore because the admission procedures there are much faster and smoother than in the European Union. Last week, Protein Brewery received approval for a second product in the novel food procedure.
A recent desk study by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO) showed earlier this year that more and more new food is finding its way in Singapore rather than in the European Union. That RVO investigation was carried out at the request of the Agricultural Council at the Dutch embassy in Singapore.
According to the RVO study, this European slow processing is mainly because the assessment process is stopped every time Brussels has requested new detailed information from the applicants, and the answers must first be processed. This can happen several times per request.
Due to this delay, start-ups in particular have problems attracting financing. Last July, the Netherlands was the first country in the EU to allow the testing of cultured meat. According to Dutch companies surveyed, the EFSA admission procedure can take up to three years.
In Singapore, the approval of cultured meat would take at most nine to twelve months. The Singapore Food Agency actively attracts cultured meat and fermentation organizations and companies from around the world. The advantage for Dutch companies is that this allows them to bring their products to the market in a relatively short period of time.
Just last month, Brussels announced that it had admitted twenty new types of algae to the food chain. The algae producers no longer have to go through the time-consuming and expensive new food process. More than 250 Dutch companies are currently working on a transition within protein consumption, according to the RVO desk study.
In 2020, Singapore became the first country in the world to approve the consumption and sale of cultivated meat. The United States followed suit last year. The EU decides on admission in the Netherlands. The Netherlands can decide for itself whether to allow so-called tastings of new forms of natural food, and did so last year - as the first country in the EU.
In 2022, the Singaporean company Esco Aster signed letters of intent with the two Dutch biotechnology companies. The intention is that Esco Aster will market cultured beef from Mosa Meat and cultured pork from Meatable in Singapore.