Aqua Cultured Foods

Aqua Cultured's tuna chopped in a bowl

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Company News

Aqua Cultured Foods Shuts Down After Five Years Developing Fermented Seafood Alternatives

Chicago-based startup Aqua Cultured Foods has officially shut down operations, marking the end of a five-year effort to commercialize whole-cut seafood alternatives produced through biomass fermentation. Co-founded in 2020 by Brittany Chibe and Anne Shaeffer, Aqua developed a proprietary fermentation process that converted cellulose into high-fidelity, fish-free seafood analogs. The startup focused on producing raw-style filets intended to replicate tuna and scallops in appearance and texture, targeting both fine dining …

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AQUA Cultured Foods' tuna

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Fermentation

​​AQUA Cultured Foods Debuts its Unique, Raw ‘Tuna’ at Chicago Michelin Restaurant

After achieving GRAS status earlier this year, AQUA Cultured Foods‘ long-awaited, fermentation-derived alternatives to raw seafood have finally launched into foodservice. Mama Delia, a Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant in Chicago owned by Chef Marcos Campos Sanchez, has introduced AQUA Tuna as part of the restaurant’s ‘Atún Crudo’ (raw tuna) dish. The dish comes with potato strings and fried eggs, but it can be vegan upon request. Atún Crudo is just …

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AQUA Cultured Foods

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Fermentation

AQUA Cultured Foods’ Fermented Fish-Free Seafood Receives GRAS Allowing Sale in US

Chicago-based alternative protein company AQUA Cultured Foods has announced that its fish-free seafood, created through fermentation, has been deemed safe for human consumption. The company’s cellulose-based products have been self-affirmed as Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) following a review by an independent panel of scientific and toxicology experts. This GRAS status allows AQUA Cultured Foods to sell its products in the United States. Cellulose-based alt seafood AQUA’s fish-free seafood, which …

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Aqua Cultured's tuna chopped in a bowl

Image courtesy of Aqua Cultured Foods
Fermentation

Aqua Cultured and Ginkgo Bioworks Unveil Collab to Produce “Sushi-Grade” Fermented Alt Seafood at Large Scale

Chicago’s Aqua Cultured Foods and the Boston-based biotech Ginkgo Bioworks (NYSE: DNA) announce a collaboration to transform alternative seafood production with a cost-effective, large-scale process.  Aqua Cultured is known for creating fish-free products, including tuna, whitefish, calamari, shrimp, and scallops, that closely resemble the texture, taste, and appearance of fresh-caught seafood. The company uses traditional and biomass fermentation and a consortium of microbes, including fungal strains, to transform unprocessed organic matter …

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Michelin starred Chef Manrique joins Aqua Cultured Foods to launch exceptional alt seafood

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Company News

Michelin Starred Chef Manrique Joins Aqua Cultured Foods to Launch “Exceptional” Alt Seafood Whole Cuts

Aqua Cultured Foods, a pioneer of alt–seafood whole cuts set to launch commercially for the first time in January 2024, has announced the appointment of renowned chef Laurent Manrique as its inaugural culinary advisor. The Chicago-based food tech develops a new type of animal-free seafood using a technology that leverages a fungi strain and fermentation to transform unprocessed organic matter into realistic alternatives of tuna, whitefish, calamari, shrimp, and scallops.  In his new role, Chef Manrique …

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Tuna/ Poke Bowl

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Seafood

Aqua Cultured Foods to Begin First Public Tastings of Alt-Tuna, Shrimp and Scallops

US food tech startup Aqua Cultured Foods announces it will begin consumer tastings of its seafood alternatives in Chicago, ahead of its public launch through chef partners and foodservice distributors.   Beginning April 6, the startup will hold tastings of several alt-seafood products, including Aqua tuna rolls, shrimp dumplings and scallop crudo, at its headquarters in West Loop, Chicago. According to Aqua, it intends to solicit feedback from participants on the …

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Fermentation

Op Ed: Anne Palermo, Aqua Cultured Foods

In the third instalment of our new Opinion section featuring the views and insights of leaders and figures from across plant-based and cell-based; Anne Palermo of Aqua Cultured Foods shares her thoughts about the current narrative on the alleged slowing-down of the alt meat category. Hype of ‘Slowdown’ in Plant-Based Meat Sector Misses the Point: The Planet Depends on Our Success Research firms, financial analysts, business pundits, and the journalists …

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Fermented shrimp dumpling

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Seafood

Aqua Cultured Develops Minced Seafood Dumplings for Asian Go-To Market Partners

Alt seafood startup Aqua Cultured Foods announces it has created a minced dumpling filling for its future go-to-market Asian food partners. One of the company’s new options is a bulk shrimp alternative that can be seasoned, packaged and co-branded by retailers or distributors. Aqua, which produces mycoprotein-based seafood using fermentation, is primarily known for developing whole-muscle cut, sushi-quality filets. However, minced seafood dumplings present another lucrative and highly accessible market …

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Seafood

Aqua Cultured Foods Appoints Food Industry Celebs to Advisory Board

Chicago’s Aqua Cultured Foods, producer of alt seafood products through microbial fermentation, announces the appointment of three industry heavyweights to its Advisory Board: Chuck Muth, Ingeborg Gasser-Kriss, and Gonzalo Ramírez Martiarena. The female-led food tech startup is developing calamari, shrimp, scallops, and whole cut filets of tuna and whitefish. The company’s fermentation methods are free of any animal inputs, genetic altering or modification and can be marketed as non-GMO. Impressive …

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Aqua Cultured Seafood Appetizer

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Company News

Aqua Cultured Foods Doubles Production Output of Novel Fish and Seafood Alternatives

Food tech startup Aqua Cultured Foods announces new advancements in its fermentation technology that allow it to double the biomass output of whole-muscle seafood alternatives.  According to Aqua, these developments have dramatically improved the growth timeline for its seafood products, which include tuna, whitefish, calamari, popcorn shrimp and scallops. The startup says it has filed five patents relating to its unique method of protein production, and is preparing for its …

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