Shiok Meats Takes the Revolution of Meat Cultivated in the Seafood Alley with Plans for Cropped Shrimp – TechCrunch

Growing consumer interest in alternative proteins and meat substitutes has yielded hundreds of millions of dollars to companies trying to grow or replace beef or chicken, but few companies have gone to market. oriented towards the development of seafood alternatives.

Now, Shiok Meats is trying to change that. The company has leveraged pre-seed financings from investors such as AIM Partners, Boom Capital and Bryan Bettencourt and is now part of the recent Y Combinator. cohort presenting next week.

Co-founders Sandiya Shriram and Ka Yi Ling, both stem cell scientists working for the Singapore Science, Technology and Research Agency, have decided to leave their government posts in memory of the United States. contractor.

Both parties have set a goal to create a shrimp substitute similar to what is usually found in the freezer of most grocery stores – and a minced shrimp substitute for ravioli.

There is a huge market for seafood around the world, but particularly in Asia and Southeast Asia, where crustaceans are an important part of the diet. Chinese consumers alone account for about 3.6 million tonnes of crustaceans, according to a 2015 study by the UN Department of Food and Agriculture .

The shrimp culture, as it is now, is also a pretty dirty affair. The industry is constantly criticized for poor working conditions, unhealthy operations and incidental environmental damage. A blockbuster report from Associated press revealed cases of modern slavery in the Thai seafood industry.

"We chose to start with shrimp because it's easier to handle than crabs and lobsters," says Shriram. But the company will expand its offerings over time to these high-end crustaceans.

At present, the focus is on shrimp. The company's first tests have been successful and the company estimates it can produce one kilo of shrimp meat for around $ 5,000.

It may seem expensive, but there is still much less than many lab-reared meat companies expect to produce their replacement beef.

"We are still relatively low compared to other clean meat companies, which still weigh hundreds of thousands of dollars," Ling said.

The company is looking to bring its first product to market in the next three to five years and will initially target the consumer in the Asia-Pacific region.

This means first selling on their home market, Singapore, then expanding to Hong Kong, India and possibly Australia.