Associate Professor David Leong (Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering) and his team at tHEMEat Company were one of seven finalists at The Liveability Challenge (TLC) 2024, Asia’s largest sustainability innovation challenge. tHEMEat Company is a food tech startup focusing on solutions for alternative proteins of the future.
The multidisciplinary team also consisted of Dr Max Tham, CEO of tHEMEat Co, Ms Chia Jia Yang, CTO of tHEMEat Co, Prof Ang Wee Han (Chemistry) and Dr Leong Lai Peng (Food Science and Technology). The team’s project was one of three innovations chosen under the Food and Nutrition track, beating out a record number of over 1000 submissions from more than 100 countries.
Organised by Eco-Business and presented by Temasek Foundation, TLC 2024 was held on 17 April 2024 at Marina Bay Sands. The seven teams had to pitch their solutions to a panel of investors, with the winners from each track receiving S$1 million each.
The team at tHEMEatCompany noted that the current low demand for alternative protein meats was due to their high price and the perception that they taste unlike animal meat. Intending to fill this gap in the alternative meat industry, the team came up with a vegan, non-Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) ingredient VEME™, which can potentially make alternative protein taste better. Apart from being more affordable than animal meat, VEME™ is also able to conduct flavour catalysis, allowing alternative meats with VEME™ to replicate the look, cook, smell and taste of animal meat.
The team came up with three products, namely the VEME™ Catalyst, the VEME™ Flavour and VEME™ Bacon Bits. Through their proprietary process, vegetables are treated with a proprietary extraction solvent, from which the VEME™ molecule is then extracted from the vegetables, which is then used to make their vegan meat flavouring (the VEME™ Flavour) and alternative plant protein meats (VEME™-infused minced meat).
A standout factor lies in how the entire process is recyclable. The solvent produced from the VEME™ process can be reused in the next round of the process to extract VEME™ once again. This streamlines the process, making it zero waste and carbon lite. Furthermore, their partnership with NTUC FairPrice, the largest supermarket chain in Singapore, ensures that the team has a constant supply of vegetable feedstock.
When giving their comments, the judges were impressed with the team’s solution. Mr Nick Winstone, Founder and Managing Partner at venture capital investment firm Aera VC, said that the team “addressed two key bottlenecks in the alternative protein space, being cost and taste, arguably unlocking the scalability opportunities worldwide.”
The solution that tHEMEat Company came up with maximises production efficiency while minimising resource requirements, aligning with the move towards a sustainable future. Assoc Prof Leong added, “Perhaps in the near future, we will be able to fully replicate the taste, look, bite and aroma of animal meats through plant-based proteins like VEME™.”
