Steakholder Foods, a food tech company focusing on cultivated meat, has received its first grant, funded by the Singapore-Israel Industrial R&D Foundation, to develop 3D-printed structured eel and grouper products with Singaporean cultivated seafood company Umami Meats.
Cultivated meat, also known as cultured or lab-grown meat, is produced by directly creating meat products from animal cells without affecting living animals in the process.
Steakholder Foods' partnership with Umami Meats aims to develop a scalable process for producing structured cultivated fish products. The company will use its technology to mimic the flaky texture of cooked fish. It was recently submitted as part of a provisional patent application.
"We are thrilled to be combining our deep knowledge and experience in cultivated seafood with Steakholder Foods' innovative 3D bio-printing technology,” said Mihir Pershad, CEO and founder at Umami Meats, in a statement. “We believe this partnership will help us advance our vision of a new, more sustainable food system for preserving our marine ecosystems while delivering exceptional, high-quality seafood to meet growing consumer demand."
The project's first prototype, a structured hybrid grouper product, is expected to be completed by the end of the first quarter of this year. The product will be printed using Steakholder Foods' 3D bio-printing technology and bio-inks that will be customized for Umami Meats' cells.
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