S.F. to get first Ìcultured salmon’ sushi bar
moved from the process of meat and seafood production,” said Elfenbein, a molecular biologist by training, who relied on his background in science and medicine to create Wildtype along with Kolbeck. “We wanted to remove that barrier, to have customers feel connected to what they’re eating.”
Companies like Wildtype fall into the category of what’s known as cellbased agriculture, where instead of plantbased alternatives, animal cells are used to create cuts of meat in a lab. In the case of Wildtype, the company is still working with the same salmon cells it acquired a few years ago to create fish in its lab. These salmon cells are then fed nutrients in the tank before they are harvested and affixed to plantbased structures that enable the cells to grow into a particular cut of the fish.
From the cell stage to harvesting, it can take between three weeks and three months, said Elfenbein. Conventional fish farming can often take upward of a year before the fish can be harvested.
For now, Wildtype’s “lab” will be invitationonly for tastings limited to students and chefs. Tastings will emphasize raw preparations of the salmon, such as in sushi rolls or in ceviche.
Whether it will taste any good is another question: One of Wildtype’s first major events was a 201¥ Portland, Ore., tasting, where Bloomberg described the taste of the startup’s salmon as “lacking.” Kolbeck and Elfenbein said they’ve used that feedback to continue evolving their product. At that time, a sushi roll using Wildtype salmon cost about l200 per roll× the two have now brought that cost down to l30 per roll, but say they still have a long way to go.
“Our work isn’t done until we’re able to make affordable seafood,” Kolbeck said.
The company is still working to get approval from the 5.S. Food and Drug Administration to open its sushi bar to the public, though Kolbeck is hopeful that might happen by the end of this year.
5nlike plantbased meat substitutes like those from Impossible Foods and Beyond Beef, which have skyrocketed in popularity in recent years, cellbased, labgrown meat products have yet to be approved for mass consumption by the FDA and the 5.S. Department of Agriculture. Bay Area companies like Eat Just, Wildtype and Berkeley’s 5pside Foods are among a growing number of companies nationwide looking to make labgrown meat go mainstream in an effort to counter the environmental impacts of traditional meat production.
In December last year, the Singapore government approved the sale of Eat Just’s labgrown chicken, making it the first country in the world to approve such meat consumption on a commercial scale. Hong Kong’s Avant Meats, which makes labgrown seafood, is also looking to join the global chorus of more than Ø0 companies looking to transform the meat production industry.
Studies are still being performed on how cultured meats will impact the environment: A 2011 5niversity of Oxford study indicated that cultured meats could generate ¥6½ fewer greenhouse gas emissions than traditional meat. But a later study by the same university suggested that depending on the production and scale, labgrown meats could lead to higher global temperatures in the long run due to some cultured meat production methods requiring a large amount of energy.
That this is still largely uncharted territory is partly why Wildtype hasn’t been able to mass produce quite yet. The Dogpatch production facility is hoping to produce ~0,000 pounds a year in the near future, with plans to expand to 200,000 pounds a year in a larger space down the road, Kolbeck said.
Wildtype has come a long way since its founding, but Kolbeck and Elfenbein acknowledge that a lot of work emains. The company has raised l20 million in funding since its launch. In comparison, Eat Just closed on l200 million in funding this year, though that company also makes other products, like plantbased eggs and mayonnaise.
Part of perfecting Wildtype’s product has been working with local sushi chefs, including a recent collaboration with Adam Tortola, the chef and owner of top Hayes :alley sushi destination Robin. The Wildtype founders are hoping to do more such chef partnerships once the sushi bar opens, including a potential chefsinresidency program.
“At the day end of the day, this is still a working facility,” said Kolbeck. “But we want to be able to open this up to people as much as possible.”