Maiko van der Meer joined on 1 March as the firm’s director of commerce, while Eugene Leong will start on 5 May as the new head of Asia.
Meatable hopes that the appointments will enable it to solidify its position as an “ally to the global meat industry”.
Van der Meer is based out of Meatable’s headquarters in Leiden, the Netherlands, and has brought with him extensive experience in the meat, fish, poultry and plant-based industry, having served in senior roles at 2 Sisters Food Group, Tyson Foods, MOWI and Vion Food Group.
Meanwhile, Leong will operate out of Singapore, where cultivated meat is already legally sold, with a focus on expanding the company’s footprint in the growing Asian market. Leong possesses more than 25 years of business experience in the flavours and food ingredients sectors, most recently at McCormick and Cargill.
Both have also been tasked with furthering collaboration with traditional meat producers in order to “create a more sustainable future for protein production”.
“Meatable is strongly committed to being a partner to the meat industry,” added Jeff Tripician, CEO of Meatable.
“Maiko and Eugene are well-positioned to engage in the good work we are doing as collaborators, not competitors, in the meat industry. By leveraging our cutting-edge cultivated meat technology and industry expertise, we are creating real solutions that benefit both businesses and the planet.”
The sale of cultivated meat remains illegal in the Netherlands and UK, but both countries are currently looking at how to regulate its sale moving forward.
Meatable was not among the eight firms selected by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) to participate in its new two-year Cell-Cultivated Products (CCPs) sandbox programme in the UK.
The FSA has committed through the programme to completing the full safety assessment of two CCPs within the next two years.
