AQUA Cultured Foods' tuna

© AQUA Cultured Foods

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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Dominic Jeong, CEO of Simple Planet.

CEO Dominic Jeong © Image courtesy of Simple Planet

Company News

Simple Planet to Develop Cell Ag Technologies Under South Korea’s National Project for Food Tech

Cultivated meat ingredients developer Simple Planet announces that it has been selected to participate in an ₩11 billion national project launched by South Korea’s government to expand the food tech industry. The national project involves various individual projects led by different governmental institutions, including the Korea Institute of Planning and Evaluation for Technology in Food, Agriculture and Forestry (IPET), the Korea Agriculture Technology Promotion Agency (KOAT), and the Korea Institute of Marine Science …

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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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Pacifico Biolabs, a Belin-based biotech startup, announced that it raised $3.3 million to make mycelium-based whole-cut alternatives.

© Viktor Strasse

Fermentation

Pacifico Biolabs Secures $3.3M to “Transform Seafood” with Whole Cut Alternatives

Berlin-based biotech startup Pacifico Biolabs emerges from two years in stealth mode with the announcement of a $3.3 million oversubscribed pre-seed round.  With the capital, the startup plans to improve and further scale its “unique” biomass fermentation process to make mycelium-based whole-cut alternatives, starting with seafood. In addition, it will expand its team with key positions, such as a CTO and chief of staff. Simon Capital and FoodLabs led the …

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Cultivated grouper fillet

Cultivated grouper fillet © UMAMI Bioworks

Seafood

Japanese Consumers Show Strong Interest in Tasting and Buying Cultivated Seafood, Says Research Study

A research study exploring the opinions of Japanese consumers toward cultivated seafood suggests that attitudes towards this novel food are generally positive, with 70% of participants showing interest in tasting it and 60% expressing willingness to purchase it once it is available.  The study, one of the latest dissertations from the University of Winchester MSc Animal Welfare, Behaviour, Ethics and Law students, investigated the knowledge, attitudes, and behavioral intentions of Japanese …

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Canadian biotech company Smallwood announces a new manufacturing plant for its vegan seafood ingredient

© Smallfood

Company News

Smallfood Sets Out to Transform Alt Seafood Market After Discovering Wild Microalgae Strain

Microbial food company Smallfood will soon open a manufacturing plant for the production and scale up of its novel marine whole food, vegan and GMO-free ingredient for the alt seafood market. At the new facility in Halifax, Nova Scotia, the company will built its fermentation line and establish its biomanufacturing process. After ten years and $20 million in research evaluating over 20,000 microbes, Smallfood discovered a wild microalgae strain capable of producing …

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Tuna/ Poke Bowl

©Aqua Cultured Foods

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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bluu seafood cultivated salmon served on a black plate with lemon rinds

Bluu Seafood's cultivated sashimi © Bluu GmbH/Wim Jansen

Fairs & Events

GFI to Host Fish Cell Culture Workshop for Scientists to Focus on Rapid Advancement of Sector

Alternatives to fish and seafood, providing consumers with nutritious options that do not come from our vastly over-fished seas, witnessed a huge increase throughout 2022 both in demand and in interest from investors. Producers of cultivated fish and seafood are operating in all corners of the planet, with many stating they are ready for market launch pending regulatory approval. Some of the biggest names successfully producing cell-cultivated fish and seafood …

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cultivated fish range

© Umami Meats

Company News

Steakholder Foods Receives First Grant to Develop Cultivated Eel and Grouper with Umami Meats

Israel-based Steakholder Foods (Nasdaq: STKH) announces it has received its first grant of up to $1M to develop 3D-printed structured eel and grouper products with cultivated seafood startup Umami Meats.  The initiative is being funded by a grant from the Singapore Israel Industrial R&D Foundation (SIIRD), a cooperation between – Enterprise Singapore (ESG) and the Israel Innovation Authority (IIA). According to Steakholder, the partnership with Umami Meats offers a unique …

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aqua-cultured-ceo-anne-palermo

©Aqua Cultured Foods

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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