Plant-based egg producer Eat Just to build Singapore factory

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Plant-based egg substitute startup Eat Just Inc said on Tuesday it had partnered with a consortium led by Proterra Investment Partners Asia to build a plant protein production facility in Singapore to serve the Asian market.

The consortium will invest up to $100 million and Eat Just will invest up to $20 million to build and operate the factory, its first in Asia.

"Once built, the first factory will generate thousands of metric tons of protein, adding to existing large-scale protein facilities in North America and Germany," Eat Just said in a statement.

The San Francisco-based start-up makes a mung bean-based egg substitute that comes in bottles and looks like beaten fresh eggs. Eat Just, which also makes a mayonnaise substitute, sells its products in stores including Walmart <WMT.N>, Kroger <KR.N> and Whole Foods.

Its existing distribution partners in Asia include South Korea's SPC Samlip and Thailand's Betagro.

Demand for plant-based meat substitutes and proteins has grown as customers have become increasingly health conscious and are concerned about the environmental impact of industrial animal farming.

Singapore, a densely populated city-state that produces only about 10% of its food needs plans to increase that proportion as climate change and population growth threaten global food supplies.

(Reporting by Aradhana Aravindan in Singapore; editing by David Evans)