Umami Bioworks has entered into a strategic partnership with South Korean biotech firm KCell Biosciences and bioprocess solutions provider WSG.

Building on a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed on 5 September 2024, the collaboration aims to establish a scalable, sustainable domestic production pipeline for cultivated seafood in South Korea.

The collaboration will leverage KCell Biosciences’ expertise in cell culture media, WSG’s bioprocessing technology and Umami Bioworks’ seafood cultivation technology.

Working alongside KCell and WSG, Umami will strengthen its capacity to deliver cultured seafood that aligns with local market demands, regulatory frameworks and consumer expectations for both quality and sustainability.

KCell will provide advanced cell culture media, while WSG will supply bioreactor hardware essential for scaling production. WSG’s cost-effective bioprocess systems and KCell’s competitively priced media are expected to ensure an efficient and scalable solution for cultured seafood production.

Together, the three companies are committed to ensuring the safety and regulatory approval of cultivated products in South Korea. The parties intend to co-invest in a good manufacturing practices-compliant facility in South Korea to serve as a production hub for cultivated eel and other seafood species.

We spoke to Mihir Pershad, founder and CEO of Umami Bioworks, to find out more about the strategic partnership:

How do you see the partnership with KCell and WSG advancing Umami’s goal of achieving price parity with traditional seafood in the South Korean market?

Establishing a scalable production system that achieves parity on price and availability with traditional seafood requires a full supply chain capable of supporting that scale and cost structure. The strategic partnerships we have established with WSG and KCell Biosciences bring their market leading cost and production capabilities to cultivated seafood production to enable us to deliver cultivated products at price parity and with significant capability to scale.

Can you provide more details on the first cultivated seafood products that will be produced in South Korea? What challenges do you foresee in adapting these products to local consumer preferences?

Our first commercial product will most likely be eel, as it is at an advanced state of production development and regulatory review. We are also working on premium white fish and a couple of other species that can fill market needs in South Korea. We believe that building trust will be critical to adoption. That is why we are partnering with established, trusted brands to bring cultivated products to market in forms and dishes that are familiar to local consumers.

Further, cultivated seafood products also offer a compelling value proposition as high protein, high omega-3 seafood that is free from heavy metals, microplastics and parasites. Working with our brand partners to communicate this value proposition to consumers will also be an important step to consumer adoption.

With South Korea advancing regulatory approvals for cultivated meat, how does Umami Bioworks plan to navigate and influence the evolving regulatory landscape for seafood in the region?

We will work closely with regulators in South Korea to establish the safety of our process and products and to address any emergent concerns they may have. We are currently following a similar process in multiple countries as one of the first cultivated seafood dossiers the regulators are reviewing, and we have seen positive responses from regulators thus far.

The partnership is set to both accelerate the introduction of cultivated seafood products to the South Korean market and serve as a model for future partnerships across Asia – it comes after South Korea’s recent advancements of regulatory approvals for cultivated meat and seafood.

Umami noted that South Korea presents a significant opportunity for the commercialisation of sustainable and ethical seafood solutions, as it is one of the largest per capita seafood markets globally.

The companies expect the Umami-led consortium to pave the way for cultivated seafood regulatory compliance with Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS).

Pershad added: “A critical part of Umami’s ambition to establish a scalable plug-and-play production solution for cultivated seafood is securing partnerships with key strategic suppliers who are capable of supplying critical hardware and inputs at prices and volumes that match our customers' requirements. With WSG and K-Cell's history of delivering high quality bioprocess equipment and culture media, we will work closely together to optimise our production solution and to bring the first cultivated food production facility to South Korea.”

Victor Kang, CEO of KCell Biosciences and WSG Group, commented: “It is momentous that the packaged solutions of Umami’s bioprocess system, KCell’s cell-culture media production and WSG’s stainless infrastructure surpass the level of price parity for food companies licensing in the manufacturing of cell-cultivated seafood products. The bioprocess solutions that Umami Bioworks possesses fit perfectly as the missing puzzle piece for us that achieves a commercially viable business model.”

South Korea’s role in the global shift towards sustainable food systems positions it as an ideal market for fostering seafood innovation.

Some of the biggest headlines from South Korea's cultivated meat sector over the last year:

• South Korea to introduce regulation-free zone to boost cultured meat production

• South Korea is accepting applications for the regulatory approval of cell-based meat

• Bio Future Food Industry: New cell-ag association formed, CEO appointed

• New Culture enters strategic partnership with South Korea's CJ CheilJedang

• South Korean researchers develop gelatine-based scaffold for cell-based meat

• Scientists grow cow muscle cells inside grains of rice

#UmamiBioworks #WSG #KCellBiosciences #SouthKorea #seafood