Japanese cultivated meat company Integriculture has announced the successful development of prototype products made from cultivated duck liver.
The products were recently showcased at a sensory evaluation held at the company’s research base, with the aim of evaluating their market potential. Seven prototypes were presented; of these, four were aimed at restaurants and the other three were processed foods.
The restaurant prototypes included a citrus dessert with cultivated duck and soy cream, a version of the Indian street snack pani puri, cultivated duck and sweet potatoes in pie crust, and an innovation combining cultivated duck with soy cream, pears, pink peppercorns, and narazuke. The processed products included a foie-gras style delicacy, a spicy blood sausage, and a liver paste containing cultivated duck and cocoa powder.
The response from tasters was reportedly favorable, with the restaurant-style foods described as “indistinguishable from non-cultured foods” according to FoovoBridge. The results will inform Integriculture’s future product development.
“Establishing cellular agriculture as a bankable sector”
Integriculture was founded in 2015 and established a production line for culturing duck cells last year. The scaffolds used to develop the prototypes were produced by San-Ei Gen F.F.I., a member of Integriculture’s CulNet Consortium.
Integriculture has named its cultivated duck ingredient Craft Essen, and the sensory evaluation coincided with the establishment of the Craft Essen Council. This group aims to promote the acceptance of duck-derived cultivated foods in collaboration with organizations such as the Cellular Agriculture Institute of the Commons (CAIC), Japan Association for Cellular Agriculture (JACA), and the Japan Bioindustry Association.
In February, Integriculture secured a JPY 200 million ($1.3 million) non-dilutive bank loan. The company said the funding would be used to invest in an upcoming deal and accelerate research and development for scaling.
“I see this deal as a small but right step towards establishing the cellular agriculture industry as a credible and bankable sector,” said Yuki Hanyu, CEO and founder of Integriculture. “I believe the normalization of this industry is about to happen.”
