MeaTech, a cell-cultured meat startup, has partnered with Tiv Ta’am, a major supermarket chain and Israel’s largest non-kosher pork and meat producer, to jointly develop new cell-cultured pork products, construct a new facility, and distribute the products to consumers.

Under the partnership, MeaTech has granted Tiv Ta’am the distribution and marketing rights for its cell-cultured pork products in the Israeli market, and potentially, the global distribution rights as well. The two companies are also interested in exploring possibilities to collaborate beyond cultured pork. The partnership follows MeaTech’s announcement earlier in the month to expand to cultured pork from its current portfolio of beef and chicken.

Tiv Ta’am, is Israel’s largest food conglomerate and currently operates around 40 brands and four manufacturing facilities. Earlier in the month, one of the largest food conglomerates in the world, Nestle, also announced a partnership with Future Meat Technologies. 

Founded in 2017 and based in Israel, MeaTech is the first cell-cultured meat company listed on a stock exchange. In December 2020, the startup successfully 3D-printed an edible cultured beef fat structure composed of bovine fat cells and bio-ink with a height of 10 mm. MeaTech’s wholly-owned subsidiary, MeaTech Europe, is expected to launch a pilot plant facility in Belgium in 2022 to scale up the production of its cell-cultured chicken fat.