Alt-seafood mega-merger to propel cultivated crustacean research and develop eel substitutes

13 Mar 2024 --- In a move slated as being “historic to the future of seafood,” Umami Bioworks and Shiok Meats have announced a proposed merger of the two “iconic” cultivated seafood pioneers, establishing the combined entity as a global player in the burgeoning cultivated seafood market.

The deal, which is said to be a “first of its kind” in the cultivated seafood space, aims to expedite the journey toward scalable production of sustainable, cultivated seafood alternatives, such as eel and grouper. 

Targeted for swift completion, this merger leverages the unique strengths of Umami Bioworks’ innovative production platform and enabling technologies and Shiok Meats’ pioneering research in crustacean cell cultivation. 

Based in Singapore, both entities anticipate synergies that will enhance go-to-market efficiencies, expand commercial opportunities, and accelerate regulatory approvals and market introduction of cultivated seafood products.

“One-stop shop”
Umami Bioworks’ CEO Mihir Pershad will head up the newly unified company as CEO, with a board of directors that will include global seafood investment leaders Hatch Blue and Aqua-Spark.

Umami Bioworks’ CEO Mihir Pershad.Speaking to Food Ingredient First, Pershad says the merger will allow two companies with complementary strategic priorities in cultivated seafood to combine their resources, commercial relationships, and species pipelines to establish a leading platform that has the potential to be a “one-stop-shop for seafood incumbents that want to adopt cultivated production.”

“As the cultivated industry matures, we believe that M&As like this one are likely and good for the industry, as they allow for consolidation of IP and resources to accelerate commercialization and scale-up.”

“Cultivated seafood as a sector is now on the cusp of commercialization and initial scale-up,” Pershad tells us. As Umami is submitting its first regulatory dossiers and signing initial customers for production facilities, Pershad “felt it was a good time to take a more strategic look at how the industry may evolve and how we could position the company to be the partner of choice for incumbents looking to adopt a more sustainable production technology.”

“The merger with Shiok Meats stood out as an opportunity to bring together the IP, resources, and commercial progress of two pioneers in the sector to establish a leading platform for cultivated seafood,” he remarks. 

Meanwhile, Dr. Sandhya Sriram, CEO and co-founder of Shiok Meats, expresses enthusiasm for the merger’s potential to significantly impact the global seafood market. 

“By bringing together these two iconic companies, we are creating a strong platform to make the vision of cultivated seafood a reality. The combined business means increased scale and speed to market in Asia and globally. The strong technology and team Umami has built will be the perfect custodian of the progress Shiok Meats has made on crustaceans, especially with our patent recently granted in the EU.”

Sriram has “always believed in consolidation to progress a novel industry like ours,” she says. “I’m excited by the opportunities for what this new combined organization will achieve.”

By uniting Umami’s platform technologies around continuous biomanufacturing and machine learning-based automation with Shiok Meats’ crustacean work offers an expedited path to the cultivation of a range of sustainable seafood products, adds Pershad. 

“The technological and business synergies of this merger represent a vital strategic step toward addressing the critical challenges of cultivated seafood production and advancing our strategy to supply sustainable, not-caught seafood without compromising the planet’s health.”

Seafood species 
Pershad explains that the companies are “initially planning to bring cultivated unagi (eel) and white fish (grouper) to the market, as these are the most advanced species in their pipeline and those for which the businesses already have commitments from existing strategic partners.

Umami has focused on International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)-listed fish species that are unsuited to commercial farming and facing growing demand, including eel, tuna, snapper, grouper and halibut. Meanwhile, Shiok Meats has prioritized work on crustaceans, including shrimp, crab, and lobster. 

“Together, these species represent a robust pipeline of several of the most at-risk and commercially desired seafood products,” adds Pershad.

The urgency for sustainable seafood solutions is underscored by the rapid increase in global seafood demand and the critical status of over 100 commonly consumed fish species on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 

Umami Bioworks and Shiok Meats aim to develop mercury-free, nutritious and culturally relevant seafood alternatives, thereby contributing to the regeneration of marine ecosystems.Umami Bioworks and Shiok Meats are on track to providing consumers with mercury-free, nutritious and culturally relevant seafood alternatives.

Addressing Asian and US appetite 
Umami will initially focus on Singapore and the US due to clear regulatory frameworks and established regulatory review processes. However, there are multiple key markets in Asia, including Japan, South Korea and China, which, according to Pershad, have a “tremendous appetite for priority species and growing seafood demand.” 

He claims that “Asia-Pacific is the global giant in seafood, consuming nearly 75% of all seafood globally (and producing roughly 66%).”

“As a result of significant economic transitions that are yielding a rapidly growing middle class and growing discretionary income in many Asian countries, seafood demand in the region is expected to be a primary driver of growth in global seafood consumption for the next two decades,” Pershad outlines. 

“The growing demand compounds regional food security concerns, making cultivated seafood a rational complementary production approach to ensure these countries can meet demand.”

By Elizabeth Green