Umami Foods files patent for its cell-cultivated fish process

Sinagpore-based start-up Umami Foods just announced it has filed a patent for cell-cultured seafood technology using mesenchymal stem fish-cell lines.

Umami Foods seafood plans to produce products using snapper, tuna, and grouper cells.

The Umami stem cell technology is unique, the company said, in that it only requires one specific cell type and one production line able to cultivate muscle and fats. The single-cell production method process isolates fish cell lines from fish, reducing costs associated with cell-based cultivated seafood production.  

“So far, we have established MSC lines from three species, including our flagship species, the Japanese eel," Umami Foods founder and CEO Mihir Pershad said. "This innovative approach to cell lines builds the foundation for faster and more efficient cell growth. Our technology advances are a critical driver of lowering costs, increasing scalability, and making cultivated seafood affordable for mainstream consumers.”

Umami has also been working on developing a cheaper plant and algae-derived growth media designed to scale.

“What makes Umami Meats different in the cultivated food industry is our method for cultivating premium seafood with the vision of reducing overfishing of endangered and difficult-to-farm species,” Pershad said. "Our single-stem cell method will be a game changer in enabling us to reduce the price of cultivated premium seafood to match that of traditionally sourced fish.”

Umami Foods secured USD 2.4 million (EUR 2.5 million) in a pre-seed funding round in March to expand its cultivated seafood offerings. The round was co-led by venture capital firms Better Bite Ventures and Genedant, and included Cult Food Science, Impact Venture, Katapult Ocean, Plug and Play Ventures, Prithvi Ventures, The Yield Lab Asia Pacific, and Venture for America. 

Photo courtesy of Umami Meats