NEW TECH FOODS

US-based start-up Friends & Family Pet Food Company has received regulatory approval to sell its cultivated chicken-based pet food in Singapore, a first for Asia.

The approval, granted by Singapore’s Animal and Veterinary Service (AVS), allows the company to commercialise eight initial products, including treats and supplements formulated with human-grade cultivated chicken cells.

Sourced from a heritage Asian chicken breed, the cultivated cells will comprise up to 70% of the product – significantly higher than previously approved cultivated pet food offerings, marking a notable milestone for the category.

“This is not only a huge milestone for our start-up, but pet food in general,” the company posted in a statement on Linkedin. “Consumers have long had to choose between the same products, made the same way, with the same ingredients. We're offering something not just new, but we strongly believe better!”

Maurice Yeo, COO at Friends & Family, added: “This is a big step for the cultivated meat industry, and for Singapore – which soon will be the only place in the world where you can buy your cat or dog a cultivated treat”.

The company plans to bring production to Singapore later this year, with retail rollout to follow shortly after. The initial line will feature freeze-dried treats enriched with prebiotics and oligosaccharides, targeting both pet nutrition and digestibility.

“Part of the Friends & Family mission is not simply to replace the protein in the pet food supply chain, but to improve the underlying protein cats and dogs eat,” says Joshua Errett, CEO and founder of Friends & Family Pet Food Company.

He continued: “That’s only possible with cultivated meat. We can optimise cultivated meat to have higher levels of nutrients, like taurine and improve digestibility and nutrient absorption. And ultimately, we believe we can make much better meat for our cats and dogs.”

Founded in 2024 by Sarah Dodd, Jonny Cruz and Errett – who previously co-founded BioCraft Pet Nutrition and plant-based dog treat brand Noochies – Friends & Family positions itself as a “nutrition-first” company aiming to elevate pet food standards through cellular agriculture.

The approval process in Singapore is different for pet food than for novel foods for human consumption, which is subject to approval by the Singapore Food Agency.

The news of Friends & Family's cultured pet food approval comes just days after two other cultivated meat companies received regulatory approval. Mission Barns announced last week that it has the greenlight to sell cultured pork fats, while Believer Meat’s cultivated chicken products received FDA approval in the US.

Image: © Friends & Family Pet Food Company