Chicago Developer of Fermentation-Based Seafood Products Closes
Aqua Cultured Foods, a five-year-old, Chicago-based developer of fermentation-based seafood products, has shut down operations.
The startup self-affirmed its process as safe in July 2024 and was developing whole-cut, fish-free seafood, including tuna, scallops and shrimp, through mycoprotein (mycelium-based fungal) fermentation.
Co-founder Brittany Chibe announced the closing Jan. 8 on LinkedIn. “We built a team of 12, raised $10M, secured FDA approval in record time filed 19 patents and brought our product to market through partnerships with Michelin-starred restaurants, global ingredient companies international retailers.”
As we reported earlier, in December both Meatable, a Netherlands-based developer of cultured chicken, and Believer Meats, an Israeli company building a U.S. plant, also ceased operations.
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.