GOOD Meat & José Andrés Make Historic U.S. Sale of Cultivated Chicken

July 05, 2023 at 18:23 PM EDT

Milestone Dinner Marks 100th Birthday of ‘Godfather of Cultivated Meat’

A select group of diners in the nation’s capital will sit down to a historic meal of charcoal-grilled cultivated chicken tonight, marking the first-ever sale of GOOD Meat in the United States. The landmark dinner at China Chilcano by José Andrés will honor the late Willem van Eelen, who is widely known as the “godfather of cultivated meat” and would have celebrated his 100^th birthday yesterday, July 4, 2023.

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Chef José Andrés prepares GOOD Meat cultivated chicken ahead of historic first U.S. sale. (Photo: Eat Just, Inc.)

Among the diners enjoying Andrés’ mouthwatering new dish, “Anticuchos de Pollo,” will be van Eelen’s daughter Ira and his grandson, Kick. Willem was a Dutch researcher, entrepreneur and prisoner of war who made it his life’s mission to realize the promise of safe, sustainable meat production from cells instead of live animals. After his passing, Ira became a friend and advisor to GOOD Meat.

Tonight’s dinner of cultivated chicken marinated with anticucho sauce, native potatoes and ají Amarillo chimichurri, comes two weeks after GOOD Meat, the cultivated meat division of food technology company Eat Just, Inc., received full U.S. regulatory approval to sell its chicken to American consumers. The event precedes China Chilcano’s official menu debut of the dish, which will be served weekly in limited quantities, by reservation only, beginning later this summer.

“I am proud that GOOD Meat is launching with José Andrés, beginning a new tradition of how Americans will eat meat in the many decades ahead. I am also humbled that our company can honor Willem van Eelen’s lasting legacy at this centennial celebration,” said Josh Tetrick, co-founder and CEO of GOOD Meat and Eat Just.

“The big day is here, the chicken is here, and people are going to be talking. This is a first for the history of humanity,” said Andrés as he prepared China Chilcano’s new chicken dish in his test kitchen on June 30. Andrés added that he selected his award-winning Peruvian concept as the first to offer GOOD Meat because “Peru is a country of many civilizations at once.”

“I am grateful that a promise my father made decades ago has come true. I’m so happy we can stop talking about it and go eat it, because tasting is believing. This is the meat we love and trust, just made in a better way,” said Ira van Eelen, who has continued in her father’s footsteps as a global champion for cultivated meat.

GOOD Meat remains the world’s first-to-market cultivated meat company, winning multiple regulatory approvals for its chicken in Singapore in 2020 and 2021. In January 2023, the firm received a key clearance that paves the way for greater scalability, lower manufacturing costs and a more sustainable product.

Reservations to experience the Anticuchos de Pollo will open July 25, with tables available starting the week of July 31. Visit chinachilcano.com for reservations and more information.

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About Eat Just, Inc.

Eat Just is a food technology company with a mission to build a healthier, safer and more sustainable food system in our lifetimes. The company's expertise, from functionalizing plant proteins to culturing animal cells, is powered by a world-class team of scientists and chefs spanning more than a dozen research disciplines. Eat Just created one of America’s fastest-growing egg brands, which is made entirely of plants, and the world’s first-to-market meat made from animal cells instead of slaughtered livestock. The company has been recognized as one of Fast Company’s "Most Innovative Companies," Entrepreneur’s "100 Brilliant Companies," CNBC’s "Disruptor 50" and a World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer. JUST Egg has been named among Popular Science’s "100 Greatest Innovations" and Fast Company’s "World Changing Ideas" and the history-making debut of GOOD Meat was heralded as one of 2020's top scientific breakthroughs by The Guardian, Vox and WIRED.

For more information on JUST Egg, visit https://ju.st/newsroom.

For more information on GOOD Meat, visit http://goodmeat.co/newsroom.