In the race to put lab-grown seafood on your plate, a Chicago startup is looking to make a splash with its calamari and popcorn shrimp that are made from mushrooms—with plans to eventually launch the world’s first whole-muscle seafood alternatives.
Aqua Cultured Foods, founded last year by Anne Palermo and Brittany Chibe, uses microbial fermentation to create "seafood" from fungi. The startup's fermentation process allows it to create foods that have the texture of traditional seafood, with the ability to create flavors that mimic the dishes consumers know and love. Aqua says it's the first company that's creating whole-cut muscle alternative seafood, and it plans to eventually launch tuna, whitefish and scallop alternatives to grocery stores and restaurants.
The startup is starting, however, with popcorn shrimp and fried calamari, which Palermo says expects to hit the market in 2022. Aqua is launching with those items as they're some of the most commonly eaten seafood in the U.S. Around 60% of all the seafood consumed in the U.S. is deep fried or pan fried, Palermo said.
Its goal is to help cut down on overfishing, which has resulted in around 80% of the world's fisheries to become exploited, depleted or in a state of collapse. Aqua also thinks it can deliver seafood at a more affordable price point, Palermo said, by eliminating the need to fly in product from the coasts or overseas.
"We are anticipating at scale to have a price point lower than traditional seafood," she said.
Aqua recently raised $2.1 million in funding from Supply Change Capital, a Chicago VC fund led by a former Farmer’s Fridge executive, along with Hyde Park Angels, Aera VC, Sustainable Food Ventures, former Louis Dreyfus Company CEO Gonzalo Ramirez Martiarena and others.
Aqua's leadership team also includes Bob Schultz, its lead scientist who previously worked at Simulate, a biotech company that created Nuggs, a plant-based chicken nugget. Executive chef Johnny Carino is the startup's head of culinary innovation.
Its fermentation process creates a product that's non-GMO, contains 18-20 grams of protein and 10-12 grams of fiber per serving, and has no sodium, saturated fat or cholesterol, the company says, adding that it's capable of creating "sushi-quality" filets of tuna and whitefish.
Last month Aqua signed a proof of concept agreement with Migros, the largest supermarket and retail chain in Switzerland, to continue developing its products. It also participated in Kickstart 2021, a Swiss startup incubator.
Aqua is among several startups working in the alternative seafood space, including Good Catch, a plant-based seafood firm that's partnering with Long John Silver's on a fillet and a "crab-free cake." Cultured Decadence, a Madison startup specializing in cell-cultured seafood products like lab-grown lobster meat, raised $1.6 million earlier this year.
Palermo created the technology behind Aqua and has spent her career in the food tech and food science industry. Chibe is the founder of snack brand Within/Without. The two food industry veterans believe they have a leg up in the alternative seafood space with experience bringing products to market. And they know just how big an opportunity is in front of them.
"When I first started this and was convincing Brittany to join me, I told her that we’re going to win a Nobel Prize," Palermo said. "I joked about it. But I truly believe it."
