Cell-cultivated seafood company BlueNalu is expanding its strategic partnership with Nomad Foods in anticipation of demand for its products in the U.K.
BlueNalu first teamed up with U.K.-headquartered frozen foods company Nomad Foods in 2021 in the first agreement in Europe between a consumer-packaged goods company and a cell-cultured seafood company. The collaboration was designed to conduct market research and identify consumer insights, asses regulatory requirements, and explore new business and product opportunities.
Now over three years later, BlueNalu said that some of that research indicated strong enthusiasm among consumers in the area. In a survey of 2,000 frequent sushi eaters in the U.K., 92 percent of respondents said they were interested in trying BlueNalu’s cell-cultured bluefin tuna toro. Additionally, 73 percent of the respondents said they would visit a sushi restaurant offering the product, and 74 percent said they’d pay the same or more for it compared to bluefin tuna.
“Our cell-cultivated bluefin toro offers a new, high-quality seafood experience — nutrient-rich, free from environmental contaminants, and designed to complement a global supply chain that is increasingly fragile and unpredictable,” BlueNalu Founder, President, and CEO Lou Cooperhouse said.
The enhanced collaboration between BlueNalu and Nomad Foods also comes after the company gained acceptance into the UK Food Standards Agency’s (FSA) novel foods regulatory sandbox. The sandbox program is funded by the U.K. Department of Science, Innovation, and Technology’s Engineering Biology Sandbox Fund and is intended to ensure cell-cultured products, or CCPs, are safe for consumers while also supporting innovation in the sector...
