Plant-based egg maker Eat Just to build production facility in Singapore

Plant-based egg substitute startup Eat Just has partnered with an Asian consortium led by Proterra Investment Partners Asia (Proterra Asia) to build a new plant protein production facility in Singapore.

The new facility will meet the increasing demand for the company’s plant-based JUST Egg product in Asia.

According to the agreement, the consortium will invest $100m while Eat Just will invest $20m for establishing a new subsidiary called Eat Just Asia.

The facility will produce the vegetarian JUST Egg, which will be distributed across Asia.

Eat Just co-founder and CEO Josh Tetrick said: “This partnership will further accelerate our path to become one of the world’s largest producers of eggs in the next decade.

“Proterra’s experience across sourcing and manufacturing will be invaluable. Consumer demand, driven by health, food security and food safety, is creating an environment of extraordinary opportunity for this unique partnership.”

Upon completion, the facility will produce thousands of metric tons of protein and be joining the company’s existing facilities in North America and Germany.

Eat Just will operate the Singapore protein manufacturing plant.

JUST Egg is currently distributed in the Asian market by South Korea’s SPC Samlip and Thailand’s Betagro.

The company is yet to announce the name of its partner in China, where JUST Egg is already being sold on e-commerce platforms such as Alibaba-owned Tmall and JD.com.

In the US market, JUST Egg is currently available at major retailers and sold to restaurants and other foodservice customers under a partnership with Michael Foods, a subsidiary of Post Holdings.

In addition to JUST Egg protein partnership, Eat Just and Proterra Asia are in discussions to expand their collaboration for the production of cultured meat.

In March, Eat Just announced new partnerships to manufacture and distribute its JUST Egg product across North America, Latin America, Europe, and East Asian markets.