4Mins Read A new report neatly summarizes the state of regulatory approvals for alternative protein products around the world in just a few pages. Spain’s Amgen, which provides regulatory advice and consulting to companies working in the alternative protein space, recently unveiled a new report that tracks the status of alt-protein regulatory approvals in various parts of […]
3Mins Read Four former Lidl managers have teamed up to launch plant-based egg alternative The VGN. Intended to be an international vegan food brand, the Germany-based startup is diving into the fast-growing sector with a whole egg replacement dubbed “The Original”. A liquid egg substitute, it is made from broad bean (also know as fava) protein and […]
3Mins Read Shanghai’s Marvelous Foods has announced its Yeyo brand is now available in Aldi stores throughout China. The coconut yoghurt has been stocked both physically and for online distribution. The move comes as part of Aldi China’s new ‘healthy eating challenge’ designed to coincide with the Olympics’ popularity. The campaign is social media-based and looks to […]
4Mins Read The Kraft Heinz Not Company is go. A partnership between two giants of their respective fields, it represents a bold shift in accordance with growing consumer demand for meat-free foods. NotCo, a unicorn startup from Chile, has secured more than $350 million in investment since its inception. US-founded Kraft Heinz (KH) owns numerous brands that […]
4Mins Read Barcelona biotech startup Libre Foods has announced the closure of a successful seed round. The company generated $2.5 Million in the raise, led by Green Generation Fund. Return investor Good Seed Ventures participated again, alongside ProVeg International and Veg Capital, former director of process R&D at MycoWorks, Dr. Ritu Bansal-Mutalik and CEO & founder of […]
Cultivated seafood is shaping up to be a serious niche within the cell-based protein sector. This is especially true in Asia, where demand for seafood remains high. In fact, more seafood is consumed per capita in the region than anywhere else in the world and Asian consumers account for over 70 percent of future growth.
Innovating alternatives to commercially caught fish and crustaceans are proving increasingly essential, and plant-based companies are leading the way, though the sector is not without its challenges. As such, a number of startups have tasked themselves with developing authentic alternatives to conventional seafood protein.
It is still early stages in the terms of the market for cultivated seafood but consumer research conducted by Shiok Meat showed that 78 percent of Singaporeans are open to trying products. In Hong Kong, the number is 95 percent.
Below, we’ve rounded up the who’s who of cultivated seafood players across Asia- the must-watch startups and companies that are looking to serve up the future of fish and crustaceans.
Photo by Shiok Meats.
1. Shiok Meats
Date founded: 2018
Founder(s): Dr Sandhya Sriram, Dr Ka Yi Ling
Based in: Singapore
Funding To Date: $30.4 million (Source: Crunchbase)
Based in Singapore, Shiok Meats is widely considered to be one of the cultivated seafood sector’s biggest players and is a pioneer in many respects from being led by an all-women superstar team to being a Y-Combinator alumni. In November last year, the startup opened its first R&D mini plant, to progress development of commercially viable cultivated crustacean products. It came after the company was featured as one of Fast Company’s ‘Top 10 Innovative Companies’.
In August last year, Shiok debuted its cell-based crab, served in a variety of guises after having debuted the first cultivated shrimp meat back during its launch and lobster in 2020. Most recently, additional bridge funding has been secured, to meet the company’s target of market release in 2023. The company hopes that existing regulatory frameworks that have seen cultivated chicken products approved for sale will help pave the way for cultivated seafood, particularly in Singapore where the company is based and where it is building a specialist cultivated seafood production facility.
Target seafood varieties: crustaceans- shrimp, crab and lobster have already been unveiled.
Photo by BlueNalu.
2. BlueNalu
Date founded: 2017
Founder(s): Chris Dammann, Christopher Somogyi, Lou Cooperhouse
Based in: San Diego, California, U.S.
Funding To Date: $84.8 million (Source: Crunchbase)
Based in California, BlueNalu is making waves in Asia thanks to two strategic partnerships announced last year. Thai Union (see below) and Japan’s Mitsubishi both signed agreements with BlueNalu to help speed up the process of development and commercialisation. The startup pursued the partnerships in a bid to remain focussed on its Asia-forward operational strategy, which is led by the region’s want for seafood but depleting resources to meet it.
The two partnerships are entirely independent of each other but both will look at chasing regulatory approval and analyzing consumer attitudes to cultivated products. BlueNalu revealed intentions to sign agreements with other global partners to bolster growth.
Target seafood varieties: mahi-mahi and bluefin tuna, to start.
Photo by Avant Meats.
3. Avant Meats
Date founded: 2018
Founder(s): Carrie Chan, Mario Chin
Based in: Hong Kong SAR, with operations in Greater Bay Area of China
Funding To Date: $13.9 million (Source: Crunchbase)
Based in Hong Kong, Avant Meats has been securing funding and forming strategic partnerships ahead of commercial release. The cultivated seafood maker claimed to have slashed its production costs by 90 percent, following an agreement with biotech firm QuaCell. It predicted that the newly cost-effective methodology would bring forward commercial release by at least one year.
In April last year, Avant revealed plans to build a specialist R&D lab, plus a pilot production unit in Singapore, the only country to approve cultivated meats for sale so far. The move is hoped to speed up the process of releasing products to consumers. A partnership with Vietnam’s Vinh Hoan Corporation, a fish producer, is intended to do the same.
Target seafood varieties: fish maw and undisclosed fish fillets.
Photo by BlueNalu.
4. Thai Union Group
Date founded: 1977
CEO: Thiraphong Chansiri
Based in: Thailand
Funding To Date: N/A
Thai Union Group is an interesting case study. One of the world’s largest manufacturers of conventional seafood, it has recently debuted a new innovation centre for the creation of vegan seafood alternatives. The Thailand conglomerate appears to be opening the door for cultivated developments in the future.
The most notable partnership for Thai Union is that with Californian startup BlueNalu. Following successful development of cultivated tuna and mahi-mahi, Thai Union will be in a position to distribute or brand products, according to the undisclosed terms of the partnership.
Target seafood varieties: tuna and mahi-mahi.
Photo by CellMEAT.
5. CellMEAT
Date founded: 2019
Founder(s): Giljun Park
Based in: Seoul, South Korea
Funding To Date: $14.1 million (Source: Crunchbase)
South Korea’s CellMEAT made a huge splash in December last year. The startup debuted the world’s first cultivated dokdo shrimp, in a range of shapes and sizes. The project demonstrated how far along the cultivated seafood track CellMEAT is, after developing an in-house Fetal Bovine Serum-free culture medium. The company claims that full commercial launch could happen within two years.
Target seafood varieties: shrimp, lobster and other high-value seafood varieties.
Photo by CellX.
6. CellX
Date founded: 2020
Founder(s): Ning Xiang, Binlu Huang, Ran Liu
Based in: Shanghai, China
Funding To Date: $4.3 million (Source: Crunchbase)
Not yet engaged in cultivated seafood production, Shanghai’s CellX has debuted a pork development. The move came after a successful second funding round that netted CellX $4.3 million for continued R&D and expansion. As part of future growth, the startup is already discussing potential cultivated fish products. This will be on-brand, as the company seeks to offer solutions for rising demands of popular products. Asia consumes the majority of the world’s pork and contributes to an estimated three-quarters of the global demand for seafood.
Target seafood varieties: TBC
Photo by Pexels.
7. Umami Meats
Date founded: 2020
Founder(s): Mihir Pershad
Based in: Singapore
Funding To Date: $2.7 million (Source: Crunchbase)
Singapore’s Umami Meats is looking to enter the exotic cultivated seafood sector, while driving down operational costs. The company is engaged in teh propcess of developing a low-cost growth serum so that it can recreate expensive and specialist seafood varieties without depleting populations. Recently, Umami partnered with Canada’s CULT Food Science to secure investment in developing a trusted platform for cultivated product refinement.
Target seafood varieties: TBC though ‘exotic’ is frequently cited.
3Mins Read Israel’s Aleph Farms has announced that it has relocated to new 6,000 square metre headquarters in Rehovot, which will allow the cultivated meat company to increase production by six-fold. Production of thin-cut beef steaks will be the initial focus. An onsite R&D centre is now being planned, to continue developing market-leading technology. International marketing and […]
4Mins Read It was another busy week for plant-based protein startups around the world. Perhaps most notably, UK-based Meatless Farms teamed up with the country’s youngest vegan chef to help more schools build healthier lunch menus. Elsewhere, v2 Foods debuted menu items in Hell (Pizza, that is), and passionate diners in Singapore picked their top vegan dishes […]
3Mins Read Singaporean startup Float Foods has filed a PCT patent application for its OnlyEg development. The application comes after nutritional improvements have been made. Details include a white with 10 percent protein, equal to that of a conventional chicken egg. A yolk with cholesterol-improving fibre is named as well. The patent is designed to protect OnlyEg […]
4Mins Read San Francisco-based cellular agriculture startup Wildtype has announced a successful Series B funding round totaling $100 Million to launch its cultivated salmon at scale across the U.S., from foodservice operators to retail outlets. Leonardo DiCaprio, Cargill, Robert Downey Tr.’s FootPrint Coalition and Temasek all participated, alongside others. The round brings Wildtype’s total funding to date […]
3Mins Read Australia’s Eighth Day Foods has announced a successful seed funding round with investment targets met within two days to continue the development of a lupin-based protein source suitable for plant-based eaters. Eighth Day intends to act as a B2B supplier to other food manufacturers and commercial scale-up imminent. The private round of new funding comes […]
3Mins Read Finnish food tech Solar Foods has scooped a €10 million investment from the Pharmacy Pension Fund of Finland to create, amongst other things, a commercial production line for the company’s proprietary “thin air” Solein protein. Solar Foods’ Factory 01 will play host to the new manufacturing side of operations, when fully operational in 2023. Solar […]
3Mins Read CellulaREvolution has announced the closure of a new funding round. Having netted £1.75 million in a pre-Series A, the British biotech intends to accelerate the development of its continuous cell cultivation technology. This will be used to usher in cultivated meat as a viable and affordable product, within a reasonable timescale. Happiness Capital led the […]
5Mins Read Better Bite Ventures, a venture capital firm with a focus on backing early stage Asia Pacific (APAC) startups in the alternative protein sector, has announced the launch of a $15 million fund. Better Bite’s mission is to support early-stage founders developing crucial climate-friendly alternatives to animal-based proteins in what it describes as the ‘world’s largest […]
3Mins Read Barcelona’s Novemeat has announced the closing of a successful pre-Series A funding round. $6 million was raised by investors, led by Praesidium. Unovis Asset Management, Rubio Impact Ventures and Volta Circle participated, amongst others. Funding has been allocated to the development of proprietary technology that will allow for scaled commercial production. Novameat has announced it […]
3Mins Read U.S. alt-meat startup Meati Foods recently announced it was taking pre-orders for its mycelium meat products. Chicken Cutlets and Crispy Cutlets were made available via direct-to-consumer pre-sales with all available items being allocated in under 24 hours. Within the first hour, 1,116 cutlets were sold to the company’ email subscribers. Following on from the success […]
3Mins Read Cultivated eggs will be commercially available before the end of the year, says Fiction Foods, a subsidiary of Cult Food Science. “It’s not a fake egg, but a whole new culinary experience, that is made from a single-cell organism called euglena that contains animal-like and high-quality protein, but without the animal,” Brendan Brazier, Fiction’s founder, […]
New plant-based items come to Nestlé as it eyes market opportunities around the globe.
Sales for multinational food giant Nestlé grew by more than three percent in 2021 to more than $94 billion USD. One of the food giant’s biggest drivers: plant-based food. It’s deepening its pivot into the category with product launches in several key categories.
Nestlé embraces new vegan categories
Newcomers to the Nestlé family include the limited-edition Garden Gourmet Voie Gras, a vegan pâté that mimics the taste and texture of traditional duck liver pâté, making its debut in Switzerland. “We are particularly proud of this unique product, which marks the strategic expansion of Garden Gourmet’s vegetable offering and the creativity of our teams,” Garden Gourmet’s marketing manager Melanie Stebler, said in a statement.
Toll House, the Nestlé baking brand, will see the addition of dairy-free chocolate chips sometime next year, the company announced last month. It’s also testing a plant-based egg powder in the LATAM market, which could expand to other markets if successful. The nascent plant-based egg category has seen rapid growth, with the Bay Area’s Eat Just leading the charge, claiming to have sold the equivalent of more than 100 million eggs in just three years.
Courtesy Sweet Earth
Nestlé’s plant-based portfolio includes vegetarian brands Garden Gourmet, Natural Bliss, Vuna, and Sweet Earth. And as the new products indicate, it is also including offerings across its legacy portfolio brands, including confectionery and Nescafé products, among others. Last October, it added vegan egg and shrimp products to the Garden Gourmet label, among other launches including a dairy-free Milo milk in Thailand.
Sales of vegetarian and plant-based food grew at double digits for the Swiss multinational, according to its full-year sales results. The category reached about $860 million USD.
“In 2021, we remained focused on executing our long-term strategy and stepping up growth investments, while at the same time navigating global supply chain challenges,” Mark Schneider, Nestlé CEO, said in a statement accompanying the report.
“Our organic growth was strong, with broad-based market share gains, following disciplined execution, rapid innovation and increased digitalization. We limited the impact of exceptional cost inflation through diligent cost management and responsible pricing. Our robust underlying earnings per share growth shows the resilience of our value creation model,” he said.
Transparent supply chains
According to Schneider, beyond the pivot to its offerings, sustainability across its supply chain plays a part in Nestlé’s success.
The company says it’s expected to reduce emissions a further 20 percent from 2019 outputs by 2025, and 50 percent by 2030.
“The key issue here is that we are able, with our reduction initiatives, to overcome the upward trend that comes from growth and hence the whole notion of growth adjusted reductions,” Schneider said. “That is something that we strongly pointed out in our Net Zero roadmap and is now fully borne out.”
Courtesy
“Our sustainability agenda further progressed as we enhance the well-being of our consumers, help regenerate the environment and strengthen the farming communities in our supply chains,” Schneider said.
Those supply chains include the cocoa market—an industry rife with child labor, even despite efforts by the world’s largest cocoa producers to curb it.
Earlier this year, Nestlé announced plans to invest more than $1.4 billion USD into tackling the child labor issue in its supply chain. It’s an off-shoot of the Nestlé Cocoa Plan. That plan sees bonuses for increased crop productivity.
The incentive also provides farmers more support, which Schneider says helps keep the supply chain transparent and traceable, “because only with the fully traceable supply chain you can generate consumer trust.” The commitment will lead to new cocoa products in 2023, including expanding on the success of its KitKat bars.
4Mins Read One of Europe’s largest farmers unions has reared up against the growing plant-based meat sector. Ireland’s Ulster Farmers Union (UFU) has called for a blanket ban on terms it considers ‘meat-related’, in relation to animal-free products. The notion of ‘protecting’ meat terms was touted, alongside a need for greater shelving clarity. The UFU is only […]
4Mins Read Love Handle opened in January. The Singapore-based vegan butcher sells a range of alternative meats, condiments, and plant-based dairy—the first of its kind in Asia. The meat counter sits at the end of a dine-in deli space. On the next floor, a vegan restaurant serves freshly prepared dishes that use the meats available to buy […]
3Mins Read Famous for its build-it-yourself furniture, Ikea U.S. has now launched a plant-based cooking staple for make-at-home meals. ‘Världsklok’, translating to “world wise”, is a pea protein mince that can be used to create meatballs and burgers amongst other dishes. The move is the latest effort from the Swedish furniture giant to embrace meat-free shoppers. Ikea […]
3Mins Read Indian foodtech Agromatic Nutrifoods is looking to broaden its portfolio of products. One of the country’s leading sellers of spices, it has revealed a new plant-based meat brand, dubbed LetzVez. Initial launch will see six high-protein products entering the market, each of which is frozen and ready to cook. The entire LetzVez range is vegan-friendly […]
4Mins Read Budding Californian CPG Voyage Foods has emerged from stealth development to announce the successful reverse engineering of certain favourite foods. The food tech is focussed on reproducing items considered unsustainable, allergen-heavy or vulnerable to supply issues, as the climate crisis worsens. So far it has created chocolate, peanut butter and coffee. Founder Adam Maxwell, formerly […]
3Mins Read A&W Canada has unveiled its first vegan burger. The limited-edition Jalapeno Lime Beyond Meat burger is plant-based as standard, not vegan-adaptable, as previous vegetarian launches have been. All of its more than 1,000 restaurants in the country will offer the burger. The new burger comes served on a multigrain bun and with a spicy vegan […]
These are the tried and tested vegan meat products my toddler loves and will eat up with no argument. It’s an added bonus that the rest of the house loves them as well.
In an ideal world, we would all be eating a whole food plant-based diet with no processed products. That same world would probably see toddlers going to bed with little to no fuss and clean plates every mealtime. The reality is that as a busy working vegan mum, I’ve learned to shirk off the guilt of having go-to faux meat products in the fridge. That being said, I choose them carefully and with certain ethical and environmental parameters in mind.
Starting strong right out of the gate, Heura Chorizo is a new but favourite addition to our weekly shop. It comes in sausage format, which is easy to chop into small bitesize pieces for a meaty and very flavourful bite. I found it very soft at first, but it soon cooks into a hefty chunk, so don’t be put off. Our daughter eyed the red food suspiciously on the first serving, sniffing it from a distance initially, before diving in. Now, she only has to see it to ask for “chotzo”. The first time I tried this product, I found myself reaching for the packet to triple-check it was vegan. Then I messaged my mum to tell her I would buy her some, so she can enjoy one of her favourite foods, guilt-free. It’s a real family affair now.
What it’s made from: Soy and extra virgin olive oil. It’s non-GMO and the soy is harvested from crops that do not encourage or support deforestation.
My favourite dish to use it in: I’m no professional chef, but I can whip up a surprisingly special dish with chorizo. I pan-fry some chunks, to get them firmed up and leeching their spicy oil into the pan, then throw in thickly sliced king oyster mushroom ‘scallops’. I let the two sear and almost caramelise together, before serving on top of a swirl of linguine. *chef’s kiss*
Bonus points for: The packaging that has been designed to allow super clean plastic liner removal, with everything else heading straight in the home recycling bin. Fantastic.
This is a product I snoozed on for much longer than I like to admit. I think I was just hesitant to try vegan tuna after a previously disappointing experience. Didn’t I feel foolish for waiting so long? The texture is not flaky like conventional tuna and almost reminds me more of a corned beef kind of firmness, but it works. Plus, its the taste that sells this product, thanks in large part to the microalgae oil. It reminds me of the upmarket glass jars of fish you get in the Mediterranean, just with none of the cruelty.
What it’s made from: Soy, pea protein and chickpeas. Also non-GMO and the packaging doesn’t feel like it is trying to hide any weird ingredients.
My favourite dish to use it in: A tough one. A simple tuna pasta bake never goes amiss, but equally, this is great served on its own as part of a sharing platter, with fresh bread and pickles.
Bonus points for: The funky space-age branding that makes me feel like an extra from Star Trek when I use it.
Bear with me, because you might be skeptical about any powder-to-meat product tasting good and being appealing to children. I felt the same, but after testing the full Greenforce range (I was sent a box containing all products), our household is an independent supporter of the brand. Not everything was a resounding success. The fish cakes and mince weren’t liked by everyone (the former got a resounding “urghhhh, yuck” from the small one) but the meatball, sausage and burger mixes became firm favourites instantly. You just mix the contents of a packet with very cold water, leave for 30 minutes, then shape and cook. Top tip: make sure your hands are wet when you shape or they will get covered. Extra cool vegan mum points are on offer if you let your kids help with the shaping.
What it’s made from: Pea protein is the hero ingredient, giving a juicy and meaty texture to everything. All ingredients are sustainably sourced.
My favourite dish to use it in: The overwhelming favourite in our house is the meatballs, served with a simple tomato and basil sauce, spaghetti and a big helping of nooch on top. Our daughter skewering a huge meatball and trying to eat it in one go tells you how tasty the products are.
Bonus points for: A genuine commitment to zero waste initiatives. The packets can be easily recycled and food can be portioned out to guarantee no waste. Plus, as vegan protein goes, you get a big dose here, with no compromises or high fat levels. This is a protein-rich food without being calorific.
Not all kids will be keen to try tempeh, but as a tofu advocate from around six months old, our daughter has never feared fermented soybeans. Better Nature‘s tempeh hits a little different from other versions we have tried. There’s no bitterness, just an almost nutty note that feels earthy and natural. We’ve tried all the different flavours, with some not being well-received (sorry curry bites, nobody was a huge fan), but the smoked organic is the ultimate winner. We always have a packet in the fridge for those days when only a buddha bowl will do.
What it’s made from: Soy beans. All products are gluten-free.
My favourite dish to use it in: Easily a build-your-own-buddha-bowl. We like to have a fridge and cupboard clear out night, putting a host of veggies, nuts, seeds, cooked noodles and rice on the table, with everyone building the buddha bowl they fancy. Tempeh is the ideal protein addition because it only takes a few minutes to griddle on both sides and it soaks up any dressing.
Bonus points for: Being a great source of omega-3 and B2. It’s easy to overlook these, but I know our daughter is getting a healthy dose of both without overthinking things or having to meal plan.
This is a tough one for me. Our household is an ethical vegan one, so when brands that we like get bought by less-than-ideal corporations, we tend to stop lending our support to them. Having been acquired by Brazilian meat giant JBS, Vivera caused me some headaches. On the one hand, our daughter loves the “chicky” and will eat it, unseasoned, as part of a snack plate whenever I put it out for her. This is a relief for any parent. On the other, it’s another big meat company cashing in and leveraging its massive profits. Ultimately, we decided to only buy the chicken breasts and no other products from Vivera, because they are a solid favourite and could be helping to disrupt the meat sector from within. Maybe.
What it’s made from: Soy, wheat and pea protein.
My favourite dish to use it in: We make a mean chicken sandwich. A vegan brioche bun, some homemade pesto mayo and slices of Vivera chicken make for a fast but insanely good meal.
Bonus points for: No bonus points here I’m afraid. Vivera is lucky to still be in my ethical vegan mum fridge at all!
3Mins Read Hamburg-based Plant B has announced the upcoming launch of its lupin-based liquid egg product across Germany after 15 months of development. The company says its has mapped out and replicated the functionality and structure of conventional chicken-laid eggs using sweet lupin, . Plant B claims that its plant-based egg alternative behaves like regular eggs, while […]
3Mins Read Australian retailer Woolworths’ venture capital fund W23 is backing plant-based meat startups, injecting new funding into Sydney-based All G Foods. The amount remains undisclosed but adds to a $16 million seed round in September last year. Funding will be used to create a “next wave of food innovation” in line with All G’s vision for […]
3Mins Read Chicago’s Aqua Cultured Foods has announced the successful development of its initial commercial product. Using microbial fermentation technology, the company has created plant-based calamari “fries.” Mycoprotein has been used to create a comparable texture, appearance, and taste to conventional calamari. Additionally, the whole-cut sushi-grade product contains a high nutritional value. Commercial launch is slated for […]
4Mins Read Travel ’round the world each week with Green Queen as we round up the latest new from plant-based food and bev companies. This week, US wellness brand Whole30 has a new development on the vegan front. Elsewhere, egg alternatives are hatching everywhere and another celebrity chef turns to plant-based foods. US: Whole30 launches a plant-based […]
A number of companies are further along in the development process for cultivated meat than ever before. These innovators are leading the charge to gain U.S. regulatory approvals.
Singapore is currently the only country to have granted regulatory approval for the commercial sale of cultivated meat products, with U.S.-based Eat Just receiving the go-ahead for two of its products. But optimism is high that the U.S. will follow Singapore’s lead soon, even our founder & editor-in-chief Sonalie Figueiras thinks so. According to Crunchbase, more than $2 billion in investment has poured into the cultivated meat sector over the past two years. The amount is expected to increase exponentially in 2022. So who’s leading the way? Below we roundup five cultivated meat companies that promise to are looking to conquer the U.S. market.
Based in Israel, Aleph Farms has enjoyed ongoing success. Debuting the world’s first cultivated ribeye steak early last year, it has gone on to secure additional funding with Leonardo DiCaprio included in the list of backers. While continuing to hone its cultivated products, the company has sought to develop critical strategic partnerships that, when regulatory approval is granted, will assist in scale-up and fast commercial launches.
In a bid to drive down the cost of cultivated meat production, Aleph Farms recently announced a new partnership with Munich-based Wacker. The two will be developing FBS-free growth mediums that will be shared with the entire industry, to create price parity with conventional meat. Open-source tech sharing of this kind is designed to progress the entire sector, not one company.
U.S.-based Upside Foods may have been the most disappointed company when regulatory approval was not granted by year-end 2021. Having predicted the breakthrough, it was ready to scale and serve its chicken nuggets and chicken hotdogs. In December last year, Upside revealed that it had successfully created an animal-component-free cell feed. The development represented a goal of the business since its 2015 inception.
Despite no confirmed green light for commercial sale, Upside opened its new ‘EPIC’ production facility. The location is capable of manufacturing 400,000 pounds of cultivated meat every year. Most recently, Upside has acquired cultivated seafood company Cultured Decadence. The move comes as seafood alternatives are showing significant market growth and are predicted to continue on an upward trajectory in 2022.
In a bid to manifest regulation progress, Wildtype has already signed U.S. distribution deals for its cultivated salmon. The San Francisco startup has agreements in place with sushi bar franchiser Snowfox and poké chain Pokéworks. The move follows completion of a pilot plant which brings production facilities, an education centre and tasting rooms all under one roof. The idea is to make the technology accessible and understandable, to encourage consumer trust and openness. When fully operational, the location will be able to produce 200,000 pounds of salmon a year.
Wildtype’s salmon will be sushi-grade and whole cut. Green Queen tried the prototype last September and it was hard to differentiate from the real thing.
MeaTech steak. Photo by MeaTech.
4. MeaTech 3D
Israeli foodtech MeaTech 3D is focussed on two aspects of cultivated meat. The first is chicken fat that can be leveraged in a B2B scale, to add flavour to other cultivated developments. In addition, honing of industrial processes and technology to manufacture recognisable meat cuts. Steak and chicken breasts have both been slated for future unveiling.
In early 2021. MeaTech secured $7 million in a funding round. $1.19 million was used to acquire Belgian startup Piece of Meat, to benefit from its stem cell technology. The rest was earmarked for the construction and fit-out of a pilot plant, also in Belgium, in 2022.
Back in 2020, MeaTech became the first cultivated meat company to go public in the U.S. It claimed a $25 million valuation for its IPO.
Making history as the first and only company to be allowed to sell cultivated meat products anywhere, Eat Just is the company to chase. December 2020 saw Eat Just bag regulatory approval for its GOOD meat chicken nuggets, in Singapore. Almost exactly one year later, GOOD Meat chicken breasts were also approved. In 2021 alone, Eat Just scooped $370 million in investments. It beat Upside Foods’ previous record.
Gearing up for U.S. distribution, Eat Just has appointed Chef José Andrés as a GOOD Meat board member. The chef has agreed to service cultivated chicken in at least one of his U.S. restaurants, as soon as regulatory approval is granted. The move guarantees high profile rollout, thanks to the Michelin-starred businessman.
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