Upside Foods (formerly Memphis Meats), a cultivated meat company, has announced the acquisition of Cultured Decadence, a Madison, Wisconsin-based cultivated seafood company.
Cultured Decadence was founded in 2020 and has developed proprietary cell lines and cell feed for a variety of seafood products, including lobster and other crustaceans. This acquisition will enable Upside to complement and expand its product portfolio and accelerate commercialization of a range of seafood products grown directly from animal cells, without raising animals. Cultured Decadence will adopt Upside's brand and remain in Wisconsin as Upside's Midwest hub.
This acquisition follows the recent opening of Upside’s Engineering, Production, and Innovation Center in California, which according to Upside is the most advanced cultivated meat, poultry and seafood production facility in the world. The facility will be able to produce both Upside’s existing product and species portfolio as well as that of Cultured Decadence, validating Upside’s multi-species technology platform.
"Seafood has a rich and delicious culinary tradition that makes it a favorite across the globe. Cultivated seafood also has a tremendous potential to benefit the world," said Dr. Uma Valeti, founder and CEO of Upside Foods, in a statement. "Cultured Decadence's technology is incredibly promising, and their team is filled with passionate, smart individuals who want to make our favorite food a force for good. We're thrilled to welcome the Cultured Decadence team to the UPSIDE family and are excited that the scientific, technological, and production infrastructure we have built over many years can help accelerate the mission impact of this team."
Cultivated meat, poultry and seafood is real meat produced directly by growing animal cells, without the need to raise and slaughter animals. It is not vegan, vegetarian or plant-based.
"We've long admired UPSIDE's innovation and leadership in the cultivated meat industry," said John Pattison and Ian Johnson, co-founders of Cultured Decadence, in a statement. "UPSIDE's unparalleled R&D and scale up capabilities will significantly accelerate the commercialization of cultivated delicious, sustainable and humane seafood. Uma and his team's "Big Tent'' mentality resonates deeply with our team, and we are incredibly proud and humbled to be joining such a talented group with a deep shared sense of mission, purpose and commitment to doing the right thing. There's nobody else we'd rather join to build the future of food."
Related: Upside Foods Develops Animal-Free Cell Feed for Cultured Meat; Aleph Farms Raises $105 Million.