Mihir Pershad, CEO of Umami Meats is developing sustainable solutions for meat cultivation

At Umami Meats, Mihir Pershad farms seafood in his laboratory.

By Lauren Tan / 9 Nov 2022

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CEO of Umami Meats, Mihir Pershad. (Photo: Phyllicia Wang)

What do acclaimed chefs Dominique Crenn, José André and Singapore’s Loo Kia Chee of Loo’s Hainanese Curry Rice have in common? Cell-cultured meat excites them. Grown in laboratories, cultured meats are cruelty-free and significantly reduce the environmental toll of farming.

However, the clean meat industry is not without controversy. Many major players rely on foetal bovine serum (FBS), which is harvested from the foetuses of pregnant cows during slaughter, as a growth medium to nourish and turn stem cells into muscle or fat. FBS is also one of the costliest ingredients in the lab-grown process, accounting for approximately 80 to 90 per cent of total production costs, with 1 litre costing up to US$1,000 (S$1,420).

Enter Umami Meats, a Singapore-based cultivated seafood start-up working on solving the serum issue. Founded by CEO Mihir Pershad, it has developed a low-cost, plant-derived growth medium that is less than US$1 per litre. Furthermore, the company has patented its single-cell technology (for mesenchymal stem cell lines from fish), which further drives down costs, and makes its cultivated seafood more competitively priced.

Umami Meats expects to make its commercial launch in 2024. First on its menu: Japanese eel, red snapper, and yellowfin tuna.

CEO of Umami Meats, Mihir Pershad. (Photo: Phyllicia Wang)

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Singapore has at least eight cultivated meat start-ups. That seems disproportionate to our size. What has enabled the industry to grow and thrive?

Firstly, there is government support. A regulatory sandbox allows companies to test novel foods, including cultivated meats and seafood. What’s more, the nation remains the only country with published regulations. As part of the Singapore Food Story programme, it has also provided seed funding for the creation of a R&D ecosystem and talent pipeline to accelerate the development of novel foods. Additionally, Singapore is an excellent gateway to Asia for many American and European companies, and is attracting cultivated meat and seafood companies looking to launch first in Asia.

Umami Meats Team (Photo: Umami Meats)

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Umami Meats has developed an alternative to FBS, which is typically used as cell feed. Could you elaborate on this?

We developed a growth medium supplement that is extracted from food-grade crop harvest side streams and marine algae. This supplement replaces the traditional FBS while also promoting rapid and healthy cell growth. As we are making this growth supplement from side streams and algae, it is highly nutritious, low cost, and can be scaled to meet our production requirements. Our supplement costs less than US$1 per litre at pilot scale, compared to US$1,000 per litre for FBS, has no animal components, and supports the growth of many fish cell lines from a variety of species.

Related: Nutrient-dense plant-based meat substitutes are the way to Singapore’s food security

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Can the public accept cultivated meats?

Based on initial research we conducted across four major markets in Asia Pacific, we’ve found that positive attitudes and receptivity towards cultivated seafood are quite strong when people learn what cultivation involves and what benefits it can offer over traditional seafood, such as eliminating heavy metals, microplastics, and antibiotic residues. We saw more than 70 per cent willingness to try cultivated seafood in countries with high awareness, but taste and price expectations will still need to be aligned.

(Photo: Umami Meats)

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You are also the author of Cultivated Abundance: How We Can Build a Better Future through Transformative Technology Entrepreneurship. As a business leader, what are the values that drive you?

The massive, intractable challenges facing humanity, our place in the world, and what the future holds for humanity have always intrigued me. Thus, one of my early frustrations was that so few people appeared to be dedicating their time and resources to tackling these daunting and obvious challenges. From sustainable food production to decarbonisation to clean water supply, it seemed to be that these challenges were massively under-represented in the career choices of those who were best positioned to do something about them. I decided to dedicate my time and voice to developing solutions to these challenges and supporting others who are doing the same.

Related: Are plant-based food as popular as they seem? Here’re three realistic truths from consumers

Environment, Sustainable Food