Umami Meats, a Singapore-based cultivated seafood startup, has filed  a patent for its unique method of establishing mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) lines from fish. What this  means is that Umami Meats can use a single fish stem cell to build muscle and fats in the production of its cultivated premium seafood and reduce the number of steps required in production. 

“So far, we have established MSC lines from three species, including our flagship species, Japanese eel.  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,” said Mihir Pershad, Founder and CEO of Umami Meats.  

By 2050, demand for seafood is expected to double but aquaculture and oceanic fisheries cannot match  the growing demand, according to WorldFish, an international nonprofit research institute. Breakthrough  innovations, like the patent Umami Meats recently filed, will play a key role in meeting rising seafood  demand and ensure a sustainable food system. 

Reducing supply and health risks 

Cultivated seafood aims to alleviate supply issues and contamination risks by producing seafood from  small samples of fish cells and growing them in a controlled environment. Advancements in cultivated  seafood technologies could help address health risks like mercury and microplastic contamination in seafood or the growing risk of extinction for dozens of the most consumed seafood species. 

As consumer demand for high-quality, sustainable food increases, so too has the market size. By 2030,  cultivated meat and seafood has the potential of becoming a $25 billion market, according to a McKinsey  report. Current technology limitations and production challenges limit existing cultivated production to premium price points 20 to 50 times higher than the price of traditionally sourced fish. 

“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.” 

Conserving endangered species 

Established in February 2020, Umami Meats is a leading platform biotechnology company in the cultivated seafood sector. The company believes that a combination of technical innovation and strategic commercial partnerships will be fundamental to lowering the cost of cultivated seafood. The company is  focused on cultivating species such as eel, snapper, tuna and grouper. Umami Meats recently established

an optimized process of isolating MSC cell lines from fish and enabling them to grow rapidly and  efficiently. Unlike the standard approach that requires multiple production lines and cell types to cultivate muscles and fat, Umami Meats’ method only requires one cell line and one production line to cultivate a  variety of tissues. Additionally, the Umami Meats team has established a plant and algae-derived growth media that is cheaper and easier to scale — the second key driver to bringing cultivated seafood products  to price parity with traditionally-sourced fish. 

“We know it will take multiple scientific and production process breakthroughs to make cultivated seafood  affordable. But we are committed for the long term because we want premium cultivated seafood to be an everyday option for consumers,” Pershad said. 

The Umami Meats team of 13 members are vigorously working to cultivate species like red snapper, eel and tuna, which are listed for conservation by the International Union for Conservation of Nature due to  high consumer demand, overfishing, and climate change. 

Innovating for good 

Pershad is a serial entrepreneur in the seafood and aquaculture space. He moved from the US to Singapore to launch Umami Meats for the country’s favorable regulatory outlook and supportive  ecosystem for companies developing innovative, sustainable food solutions. Umami Meats is backed by leading investors such as HATCH Blue, Better Bite Ventures, Prithvi Ventures, Katapult, The Yield Lab, and  Sustainable Food Ventures. 

‘’The team is working diligently to shift the cost paradigm and will be increasingly leveraging advanced machine learning tools to accelerate the process of optimizing and scaling up production,’’ Pershad. “The promise of cultivated seafood is compelling; our priority is bringing the tremendous potential of our  scientific breakthroughs to commercial viability. We want to realize that promise and bring it to sufficient scale to create real impact for the world.”