Cell-based seafood makes culinary leap forward

Cellular-based seafood company BlueNalu recently held a culinary demonstration of one of its first commercial products for partners and investors.

The San Diego, California, U.S.A.-based supplier showed variety of preparations — including kimchi, fish tacos, seafood bisque, and poke — for its cell-based yellowtail amberjack.

“With our recent product demonstration, BlueNalu has accomplished a major milestone,” BlueNalu President and CEO Lou Cooperhouse said in a press release. “Our team has successfully produced whole-muscle portions of yellowtail fish fillet, derived directly from fish cells, in which our product performs the same way as a conventional fish fillet in all cooking applications.”

“This is an enormous accomplishment, and we don’t believe that any other company worldwide has been able to demonstrate this level of product performance in a whole-muscle seafood product thus far,” Cooperhouse added.

Currently, BlueNalu executives are focusing on launching products into a test market over the next 18 to 24 months, according to Cooperhouse.

“In addition to yellowtail amberjack, we have already demonstrated success with a number of other finfish species, including mahi mahi and red snapper,” he said.

“When we started this company, there was very little available science on the long-term propagation of fish muscle cells and no reliable culture protocol. To create a whole-muscle product from fish cells that are grown without genetic modification required considerable innovation,” BlueNalu Chief Technology Officer Chris Dammann said.

“We are now ready to focus on our next phase of growth to increase production volume,” Dammann added.

BlueNalu’s yellowtail medallions can be served raw or cooked via direct heat, steamed, or fried in oil. They can also be marinated in an acidified solution for applications like poke, ceviche, and kimchi.

“As a chef, I’m extremely excited about cooking with a whole muscle, cell-based seafood product, as this represents sustainability in a whole new way. I feel great about cooking with seafood that I know supports ocean health and species biodiversity,” BlueNalu Corporate Chef Gerard Viverito said. “In addition, I don’t have to worry about bones, fish scales, filleting, or having to throw away any unused fish parts.”

Photo courtesy of BlueNalu

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