Umami Bioworks expands into South Korea with new cultivated seafood production line

SOUTH KOREA – Singapore-based cultivated seafood company Umami Bioworks is moving into the South Korean market through a partnership with two biotech firms. 

The company has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with KCell Biosciences and WSG to establish a scalable domestic production line for cultivated seafood in South Korea, aiming to speed up the entry of these products into the local market.

With South Korea developing a regulatory framework to support cultivated meat, Umami Bioworks is the latest company to tap into the country’s growing interest in alternative proteins. 

The collaboration will leverage Umami Bioworks’ seafood cultivation technology, KCell Biosciences’ expertise in cell culture media, and WSG’s bioprocessing equipment to build a production pipeline.

South Korea, one of the largest consumers of seafood globally, represents a key market for the consortium, which hopes to use this venture as a blueprint for future partnerships across Asia. 

Umami Bioworks sees the South Korean market as a strategic point of entry, with the country’s meat substitute sector already showing steady growth. 

In 2020, the market was valued at approximately US$17.4 million and is projected to reach US$22.6 million by 2025.

In addition to its South Korean expansion, Umami Bioworks recently partnered with two Indian organizations to further its research and development efforts in cultivated seafood. 

The collaboration will include the establishment of a new R&D facility at a university campus in India, where researchers have already developed prototypes of cultivated seafood using cells from milkfish, grouper, red snapper, and tilapia.

Sheela Rani, the institute’s director, said the partnership with Umami Bioworks will help develop more cell cultures and scale up production. 

To date, Umami Bioworks has raised US$2.4 million and is preparing to submit regulatory dossiers in several countries by the end of the year.

Additionally, Umami Bioworks is planning a merger with Shiok Meats, which will bring cultivated unagi (eel) and white fish (grouper) to the market through hybrid product applications.

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