Eat Just, the US-based supplier of plant-based eggs and cell-based chicken, has closed a new round of financing.
Financial terms were not disclosed. In a statement, Eat Just, the owner of Just Egg plant-based eggs and Good Meat cell-cultivated chicken, said the non-profit Ahimsa Foundation had provided the finance.
Eat Just said the support would help the company “continue improving the quality and profitability of its products”.
CEO Josh Tetrick added: “We’re proud to continue this vital work with an investor who has shown an unwavering commitment to this ideal. Our work is not easy and not certain but it’s what is required.”
Speaking to Bloomberg, Satish Karandikar, a principal at Ahimsa, echoed Tetrick’s comments on Eat Just’s profitability.
“They needed this short-term boost to realise those opportunities,” Karandikar said. He described Just Egg as a very “very good” product and added the company “just needs to work on cost and logistics to make it profitable”.
Unnamed sources told Bloomberg neither of Eat Just’s businesses makes money.
In March, the company announced it was cutting 18% of its workforce at its Just Egg division.
The move was set to affect around 40 employees, mostly in the US, and was necessary for profitability, the company said at the time.
Just Egg products are available in more than 48,000 retail points of distribution in North America.
In June, Good Meat received US regulatory approval to sell its cell-based chicken in the country.
Good Meat launched in Singapore in 2020 with its chicken product and this year received approval from the local regulator for its “serum-free media”.