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Business of Food & Beverage

Cultivated Consolidation: Shiok Meats Merges with Umami Bioworks

March 13, 2024

The two Singapore cultivated/cultured seafood companies see merger as the best way toward next-level development and market introduction.

Dave Fusaro

Two Singapore cultivated seafood companies have merged. Shiok Meats Pte. Ltd., a portfolio company of Agronomics, has been acquired by Umami Bioworks Pte. Ltd. in a share-for-share transaction.

“This merger leverages the unique strengths of Umami Bioworks' innovative production platform and enabling technologies and Shiok Meats' pioneering research in crustacean cell cultivation,” said the March 12 announcement. “Based in Singapore, the combined entity anticipates synergies that will enhance go-to-market efficiencies, expand commercial opportunities and accelerate regulatory approvals and market introduction of cultivated seafood.”

Shiok has focused on cell-cultured crustaceans while Umami Bioworks pursues species of fish that are endangered or not easily farmed sustainably, such as eel and grouper.

Singapore was the first country to approve cultivated meat – the cultivated chicken nuggets from U.S. firm Eat Just. With its density of population and little agricultural base, most of its food is imported, making domestic lab-grown meats and fish an attractive proposition.

About the Author

Dave Fusaro | Editor in Chief

Dave Fusaro has served as editor in chief of Food Processing magazine since 2003. Dave has 30 years experience in food & beverage industry journalism and has won several national ASBPE writing awards for his Food Processing stories. Dave has been interviewed on CNN, quoted in national newspapers and he authored a 200-page market research report on the milk industry. Formerly an award-winning newspaper reporter who specialized in business writing, he holds a BA in journalism from Marquette University. Prior to joining Food Processing, Dave was Editor-In-Chief of Dairy Foods and was Managing Editor of Prepared Foods.