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Fish-free seafood for fine dining with Brittany Chibe
65 Plays3 months ago
Karthik and Alina are joined by Brittany Chibe, CEO and Co-founder of Aqua Cultured Foods to talk about everything alternative seafood: how it's made, how Brittany is bringing it to the food world, what consumers think, what the future holds, and more.
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Transcript
Introduction to the Podcast
00:00:11
Speaker
Hello everyone, and welcome to another episode of Lux Research's Innovation Matters podcast, the podcast for for staying on top of sustainable innovation trends. I'm your host, Karthik Subramanian, filling in for all the Anthony Schiavo fans out there. He will be back soon. Today I'm joined by our director of research for anthropology, global anthropology, Alina Strugut. Alina, how are things going? Amazing, amazing. Another beautiful day in Toronto.
00:00:39
Speaker
Yeah. Amsterdam is quite hot,
Meet the Guest: Brittany Chibi
00:00:41
Speaker
quite sweaty. I had the chance to be in Paris for the Olympics and I'm not going to be doing sports commentary today because Anthony's not there to give his skeptical take, but I am delighted to be joined by Brittany Chibi from Aquacultured Foods. ah Brittany, but thanks for joining us on the podcast. ah How are you doing?
00:01:00
Speaker
Thank you for having me. I'm doing good. I'm sitting here in Chicago and it's also a hot sticky day, like a human 92 degrees today. Yeah, I guess as humans, we all expect summer to come when it's winter and winter to come when it's summer, like we are never ever satisfied.
What is Fish-Free Seafood?
00:01:16
Speaker
And speaking of satisfaction, food is always something that satisfies our soul, not just our stomachs. And I'm delighted that we are going to discuss aquaculture foods today.
00:01:27
Speaker
So Brittany, thank you again for joining us on the podcast. And can you please share what aquaculture foods does and what got you here? How was your innovation journey been so far? Sure. So what we're doing at Aqua is making fish free seafood created through fermentation. And so the way we like to explain our process is we're using the same technology that brings us a lot of the foods we love like beer and cheese and wine. And we're using that process in a new and different way to create our cuts of seafood. And so we're essentially taking a consortium of microbes, growing them up through a fermentation process where we end with a cellulose fiber matrix and then that cellulose is harvested and downstream we add flavors and in the case of our tuna, a beet derived color to it to replicate these different species of seafood. And so
00:02:24
Speaker
We're about three and a half years now into our journey. And it's been lots of R and&D, lots of learnings, lots of fun scaling up into our pilot facility. And now I say is where the fun really begins um because for me, as someone who's more focused on the commercial side and the stuff that I love to do and know how to do really well, now I get to kind of bring our product to market. And I feel like, you know, it's tasting is believing. And so I'm just so excited that we're going to be hitting restaurant menus soon with our products.
00:02:55
Speaker
um now that we have our regulatory approval. So um that's a little bit about what we do and where we are today and how how did
Inspiration Behind Aquacultured Foods
00:03:03
Speaker
this come to be? So um back in 2020, post COVID, I got connected to my former co-founder and she had this idea of creating this you know seafood alternative that could essentially feed the world's growing population and we started talking about the idea and I fell in love with it. And the reason for that is because I'm a diver. I started diving back in 2017. And after I, I'm obsessed, um after I drove or dove the Great Barrier Reef, I had this moment of sort of devastation. um You know, I think when before I was going, I talked to some people that I know that have been and they said, you're not going to see a lot. There's just the corals are bleached.
00:03:47
Speaker
And it's not going to be a great diving experience. And I could not wrap my head around what they meant. Because up until that point, I've had these really great dives and have appreciated um just so much about the ocean and the life underwater and just fell in love with our oceans through diving. And so when I went and dove there, they were right. I mean, it was bleached. And what that means is the corals are dead.
00:04:11
Speaker
right? And so when the corals are dead, the fish that feed on the corals are not there. um And it just looks like you know skeletons essentially in the ocean. And it was just really saddening and it it weighed really heavy on me. And I did not know what I could do about it. And I started to think about, okay, me as as a you know as an individual, I could stop using single use plastic. I can make different changes right in my lifestyle, but that makes such a teeny tiny little impact. It really is going to take large global companies on a massive scale to make some changes if we're going to impact the health of our oceans for the better. And so I just sat with that really not not knowing what I could do to make a difference. And so when the opportunity was presented of
00:04:58
Speaker
you know, we could take this this product essentially and turn it into seafood. Not only can we feed the world's growing populations, but we can also benefit our oceans, right? We can take some of the pressure off the ocean by bringing an option to the market where we don't need, right? We're not depending on the oceans. We're not taking anything from the ocean to make our fish free seafood. um And hopefully by us bringing this product to market, consumers,
00:05:28
Speaker
start eating that and last traditional seafood, thereby lessening some of the damage that we're doing that's caused by traditional fishing and aquaculture. um And so what we did was we you know founded the company at the end of 2020 and we knew right away that we wanted, first of all, we wanted to bring investors in to really help build our network and help fund the company so we could start hiring a team. My last business I bootstrapped and it was As successful as the company was, it was really, really difficult not to have any partners in that and not to bring in investors that can really help you on the journey and not only provide capital, but also just guidance and network. So right away, we knew we wanted to bring in a network of investors. And so we went through the Big Idea Venture program. It was essentially our first check into the company.
00:06:19
Speaker
um After that program ended, we raised our pre-seed round which allowed us to help start build out our R and&D team um because we were you know two non-technical co-founders and um we brought in our first hire who was just an amazing um you you know food scientist and really helped us grow our technical team from there.
00:06:39
Speaker
And now today we're about nine people. We've essentially scaled out of our lab and into production. So we have a pilot production facility here in Chicago in the Westtown area where we can make about, at capacity will be about 5,000 pounds of finished product a month. And with that, we can service upwards of about 60 to 80 restaurants.
00:07:03
Speaker
And so we're we're increasing our production here um and we'll be servicing the Chicago market first. And then we're thinking about, okay, now once we've maxed capacity at Pilot, what does that look like for commercial scale? So there's a lot of learnings we had at lab, a lot of learnings we're having now at Pilot and we want to sort of tweak and perfect things before going to a larger commercial scale.
How is Seafood Alternative Made?
00:07:30
Speaker
Yeah. So ah getting into the the product and the process itself, um I believe if I'm not mistaken, this isn't exactly precision fermentation, right? Even though you use micro. Correct. Could you explain how the process works to our listeners? That's correct. So we're not doing precision fermentation. We're actually doing biomass fermentation. And so what that means is um we do have a consortium of microbes, right? So we use bacterias and yeast and we have a liquid feedstock. So if you think about a feedstock, it's, you know, sugars, waters, and nutrients. So we have a recipe specific to our microbes that really allow the microbes to grow and thrive. And then we have everything growing in what we call a grow room. And so we have an environmentally controlled room where again, we're giving our microbes the conditions it needs to grow and thrive.
00:08:25
Speaker
And our are um process is is basically like a static fermentation. So we don't touch it, right? It just sits there in the grow room. And within a couple of weeks time, we get about a 20 to 25 millimeter thick cellulose bio mat that's grown through that fermentation process. And then that that mat, that cellulose mat is our product. So we go through a kill step.
00:08:52
Speaker
where we pasteurize the product, right, we wash out any of the fermentation media that would be left behind. and um It essentially denatures the product so that, for example, if you were to run like a DNA sequence on it post pasteurization, you wouldn't be able to to know what microbes we're using. So that just is a protection for us. And also to pasteurize the product for food safe consumption. And from there, we go through our marination steps. So we're able to Add plant plant derived flavors. So for example, with our tuna flavor or scallop flavor. They're all vegan. They're all plant based flavors that we add to the product. And then in the case of our tuna we added beat derived color. um So again, a natural color a plant drive color so that our products are fully vegan and plant based and so then we can cut it and shape it so
00:09:45
Speaker
with our, in the case of our tuna, we make these really beautiful eight ounce sakus. So think of, you know, when you're at a sushi restaurant or you're going to buy raw fish and you can buy the the tuna in and blocks, right? And you can use that for cuts of shishimi or nigiri, or you can slice it for a tuna roll or cube it for poke or ceviche. Um, so what I like to say with, you with our shops is like the world is your oyster. Like we give them our product in the same way they would receive traditional seafood because every chef wants to be really creative and put their own spin on different dishes. And so we show them different applications like tuna tartare.
00:10:26
Speaker
or a scallop ceviche or a scallop crudo just to show them here's an idea of what you can do with our product but we know they're going to make something even more spectacular and they do and it's just amazing to see what these shops can do with our products. um And so so we're selling the eight ounce sakus and then in the case of our scallops we're mimicking more of a diver scallop so they're about one and a half inch round and um we don't need to add any color to that product so it's even a cleaner ingredient list than our tuna is because it's essentially the cellulose water and then the added flavor um because the natural color of our product looks very similar to a scallop.
00:11:10
Speaker
bit the This is amazing. I mean, we're seeing consumers um being so excited about adventurous foods. We see the foodies out there ready to try new alternative things, foods that also align with their ethical concerns. um And this this innovation sounds really amazing.
00:11:35
Speaker
I was wondering, are there any health and nutritional ah benefits added to like when compared to traditional seafood products?
Nutritional Benefits of Aquacultured Foods
00:11:44
Speaker
We're seeing a lot of consumers move away from traditional seafood because they're worried about potential contaminants like mercury. They're worried about allergies. ah But they also fear that alternatives are heavily, too heavily processed. So I was wondering um if ah for the health health-minded consumer out there? Is there um any added nutritional benefits that they should be aware of?
00:12:11
Speaker
Yes, I love that question. So because we grow cellulose, cellulose is a very fibrous um ingredient. And so our products actually have a good source of fiber. And we are making that call out even though we're selling to restaurants and our products and packaging are not going to be seen by consumers, we're still making that call out on our packaging for food service that this does have a good source of fiber, we meet, you know, the FDA requirements to make that call out.
00:12:38
Speaker
And I think that's so important because we talk a lot about protein, but we don't have there is no protein gap. like There really isn't. We are consuming a crazy amount of protein more than we really can use, more than our body can actually use, but we do have a fiber gap.
00:12:56
Speaker
And fiber makes for a really healthy gut and a healthy microbiome. And so I think that we're going to start to see fiber trending in the coming years. I think fiber is the next protein. yeah um So for us, it's really leaning. i Yes, it is. and And I get so excited about it. We're really leaning into fiber because but let's talk about what our product does have and the benefits of it. And that is fiber. And that is something that You can't get from traditional seafood what we are lacking in our product today that traditional seafood does have is fiber and is healthy fats right in the form of omega-3s and so we are working with different partners to add that to our product and And we can add it in a couple of ways. We can do it downstream, for example, in a marination, like how we add our flavor and color. And we're even testing ways to add it upstream during the fermentation process so we can essentially grow protein or grow lipids into our cellulose biomass. So there's still work to be done there. We're always experimenting with that. And I think that's something that if we want to have a true one-to-one nutritional
00:14:05
Speaker
Um, to traditional seafood, we do want to have those, those healthy fats and the protein, but today I'm like screaming fiber from the rooftops. I think it's so important to make that call out. Um, and, um, I forget what the the other part of your question was Alina, but I want to make sure I address it. Can you remind me? No, you, you, you totally addressed it. It was about the added or any other health and nutritional benefits. And I was wondering, um, so functional.
00:14:33
Speaker
needs, right? Meeting their nutritional requirements is very, very important for consumers. But there's also ah the ethical-minded consumer who is more drawn by social and emotional needs. um Going for alternative products, non-animal-based products, is a reflection of the of their social identity, their sense of community,
00:14:58
Speaker
Veganism is a lifestyle choice that shows that they're part of a movement that aligns with a broader ethical stance. And ah in order for it to be a movement, there's also this requirement for it to be accessible. If only very few of us can afford this alternatives, then we're not really having that broader impact on the environment that we wish.
00:15:26
Speaker
so um Is there any, well do you have any ways to address these concerns about price accessibility ah that would that would appeal to to a broader base of consumers, a broader consumer base?
Cost Efficiency and Pricing Discussion
00:15:43
Speaker
We do. And that goes back to your question earlier, Karthik, about precision fermentation versus biomass fermentation, like what we're using. So the beauty of our process is it is really capital efficient and
00:15:58
Speaker
you know, we're not buying these $100,000 bio reactors, right, that you would need for something like a precision fermentation process. We can use essentially off the shelf equipment, right, we can leverage equipment from different industries, and use that to create our products. And so it keeps our costs really doubt far down compared to other other companies in this industry. And so at our pilot scale, we actually have positive unit economics, which is quite unheard of at this size and scale.
00:16:30
Speaker
and so That's because we have you know we can use off-the-shelf equipment, we can leverage um you know lease contracts versus buying equipment outright. and so We've kind of started with the end in mind knowing that we want this to not only taste really good and mimic the eating experience of seafood, but we want it to be a cost-effective price point where We can feed the world, right? Our mission is to feed the world's growing population and you can't do that if you're selling at a price point that's unreachable for everyday consumers. And so thinking about the cost of our manufacturing today, knowing what it is at pilot scale and the excitement that we see, right? This is more of a paper exercise now, but when we think about our commercial scale up,
00:17:16
Speaker
Looking at ways to get our cost under $2 a pound is really exciting because that's when you really can start making an impact in the market and really feed the masses. But because of our pilot scale today and because we have a limited production volume, we are targeting these more premium cuts of seafood. so Traditional tuna today is about $30 to $32 a pound, if we think about bluefin tuna. and scala and This varies by region, right but just in Chicago, scallops are selling for about $40 a pound wholesale. and so We're going to be launching our tuna and scallops below the price point of these traditional species. so
00:17:56
Speaker
We actually have a value add to our chefs and our restaurants that we can undercut the price of the seafood they're buying and give them a consistent quality supply, right? Because the the demand for seafood is there and it's growing where I think we're growing our seafood consumption is growing like 30% right now and the supply is dwindling, right? We're overfishing our oceans. We have a lot of issues in aquaculture.
00:18:20
Speaker
And so we have this window link supply, this and increasing demand. And so chefs are trying to get these products and there's just. inconsistencies in the supply. We even have chefs that are air freighting their fish from Japan every single week, which when you think about sustainability, that just is so unsettling. Um, but they're doing what they're going to do to have products on their menu to, to feed and please their, their customers. Um, but we have this great advantage, right? Because we have a consistent supply. It's locally grown, right? Locally made locally grown. And we can sell it at a really attractive price point.
00:18:56
Speaker
And so they don't have to worry about updating their menu prices. They don't have to worry about changing their menu dishes week after week because they know they can get that product from us consistently. And so today we're targeting more of the premium restaurants like fine dining Michelin-starred restaurants and shops because We have a limited amount of products. So it's the question becomes, how do you make the biggest impact with the limited product that you have? And for us, that means let's target these more well-known shops and well-known restaurants to really make a splash in the market, get people familiar with our brand and our products and start generating a lot of buzz and excitement around it. Knowing that that's short term and then long term as we continue to scale up, we'll bring the cost of our products down.
00:19:41
Speaker
and really be able to feed the masses. And it's funny because I tell my team, like I know we'll have made it, like quote, made it, when we have an aqua filet of fish on the McDonald's dollar menu. like To me, that is like accessibility to the mass. So that's when I know like our products are accessible. We'll be on the McDonald's dollar menu.
00:20:02
Speaker
Anthony should have been here to hear that because he's a big McDonald's fan. i But I actually wanted to go back to the point you mentioned about um the texture and and what it feels like because as a vegetarian, I don't know what seafood feels like and when I try to introduce a lot of protein in my diet, I typically go to these vegan alternatives.
00:20:24
Speaker
and so for me it's more about the nutritional side of things and so i know rather than the taste because what i taste is for me there is no benchmark for me to compare it with so either it tastes good or either it tastes bad whatever that product is so i wanted to ask you from the meat lovers section, if you will, um and and for those pescatarians out there, like, what are you seeing in trends in terms of consumers, ah you know, when they're buying this product, are they looking at it as a meat alternative, like, okay, this is meat, or are they just looking at it as a pure, you know, nutritional value add, and and not like a real meat substitute? What are you seeing on none that side?
00:21:03
Speaker
I think it depends on the consumer because I think to your point, some vegans and vegetarians who've never eaten seafood or even even people with seafood and shellfish allergies who've never tried seafood or maybe had it once in their life and then never again.
00:21:18
Speaker
our product can be a little bit scary for them. So I say that because we've done a lot of consumer testing. We've done focus groups um on campuses with with university dining. And what I found with the more vegetarian or vegan consumers is our product is too realistic for them.
00:21:38
Speaker
And so, for example, we had somebody here last last spring when we were doing our consumer taste panels and it was two vegans and they ate the product and they were just like, I'm sorry, like i can't I can't finish the tasting because this is too realistic. They're like, I gave up fish for a reason. This is too similar.
00:21:57
Speaker
I'm sorry. And it's like, that's OK. Like, to me, for you saying this is too realistic to seafood, that's a win for us, right? Because unfortunately, ah you know vegans and vegetarians only make up about 4% of the population in terms of their lifestyle and eating habits. We want to target meat eating consumers, right? We want to target omnivores and flexitarians, because when we think about our goal and our mission to continue to feed the world in a sustainable way,
00:22:24
Speaker
We have to convert meat eating consumers and whether they're willing to try our products for health reasons or for sustainability reasons, planetary reasons, you know, it's a feel good thing for them to maybe swap out one meal a week with, you know, alternative like aqua and instead of a conventional protein. um Everyone has different reasons for that. But I think if we're going to really make change and make a difference in the world, we have to appeal to those meat eating consumers. And so because of that, we're hyper focused on matching the taste and the texture and the eating experience of traditional seafood.
00:23:01
Speaker
I think at the end of the day, we have to remember that we are a food company. We're a food company enabled by tech, right? But we're not a research company. We're not an R and&D company. We are truly a food company. We are here to feed the world and taste is king, right? Like taste is king. It is so important and texture is key as well, ah especially with seafood. This category is ah highly dependent, I think the success of alt seafood is highly dependent on the texture and being able to achieve the texture of traditional seafood. And so the beauty of our product and is that it is really high because it's high fiber, it's also a lot of water. And so it has that slip, it has that glisten, it has the bounce of traditional seafood. And because we can play around with textures in our process, we can mimic that really buttery melt in your mouth tuna texture that you want from a piece of, you know, bluefin.
00:23:56
Speaker
And with our scallops, we can get the bounciness and the springiness of the bite of that scallop. And so I think that is so key to be able to achieve those different textures because the flavoring is easy for us. We work with global flavor houses. They make flavor specific for us and for our needs and our base product. And we spent the last three years really honing in on the right recipe of our flavors. and so We block that in that is it's delicious. It's scary how similar it is like every tasting every cutting we do internally we have to have um The real thing next to it, right? So if we're tasting our scallops We bring in scallops and taste it side by side and how close is it to that to the real thing? So I think to convert the masses. We really need to to mimic that entire eating experience and right from the first bite to the last bite of that dish and
00:24:48
Speaker
how closely does it match up to traditional seafood? We've seen with the Beyond Burger, for example, that consumers are worried that this type of alternatives are too heavily processed. um that's That's one of their biggest fears, and they're not sure on the long-term healthy impact that this type of what they think is heavily processed foods would have. um Have you, what what is your position? What is your view on this? Yeah, I i mean, I'm an eater of Beyond Meat and of Impossible and all I mean, I'll try all the plant based products just because I'm such a big believer in the space. um But I don't disagree with that argument that a lot of those products are heavily
The Appeal of a Clean Label
00:25:40
Speaker
processed. I mean, let's be honest, a lot of the food and our
00:25:44
Speaker
Um, and our food system is ultra process and that's not good, right? And so that's why I think we've had this, this movement over the last 10 to 15 years of clean ingredient and clean label and minimal ingredients and products. And consumers are really starting to open their eyes and have the conversations and actually turn the package around and read the ingredient label, not so much focus on the nutritionals, but really read the ingredients in it. So I don't disagree that there's a lot of.
00:26:12
Speaker
long ingredient lists and heavily processed foods in this space. And I think that's why I love this fermentation pillar of alternative protein so much, you know, because we can mimic the taste and the texture and the mouthfeel because it is really affordable and accessible in terms of the costing and the price points to consumers.
00:26:33
Speaker
We also have the benefit of a minimal ingredient list. And so like I mentioned earlier with our scallops, you know, our base product is water and cellulose, and then we add the flavor to that. And so to have a short ingredient list, our scallops are like five ingredients. That's it.
00:26:49
Speaker
And that's super attractive, not only for consumers, but also for shops. And, you know, with shops, they look at the product and they're kind of like, how did you do this? Like, how did you guys create this? How did you get something so simple, but so realistic that tastes like the real thing? And I think that's our value proposition, right? It's it's a one-to-one eating experience. It's clean label. It's helpful with the amount of fiber that we have in there.
00:27:15
Speaker
Oh, and by the way, you can replicate the seafood eating experience without compromise. And I just think there's something really beautiful in that, that we can, you know, you can go to dinner with your friends and there could be someone who's, you know, a vegetarian, like you Karthik, and maybe um someone who's pregnant and can't have seafood right now, or um someone who's, you know, living a plant-based lifestyle, and then you have your meat eater friend, and you can all come together and have the same meal, and no one feels like they're compromising
00:27:46
Speaker
the taste or the experience, right? It's like we can deliver this one-to-one eating experience, which is just truly exciting. You were mentioning about the the ingredients list. we werere We're actually at the minimal number of ingredients. We're actually seeing the same in skin care, right? For a while, consumers were all about natural ingredients, natural ingredients, and then we have ah Korean skin care. It's like, no, it's all about the clean labels, more like two or three ingredients. And it doesn't matter if I understand those ingredients or not, as long as it's not half a page, then and they feel reassured, right? They also associated with um efficacy, with ah improved effectiveness and
00:28:30
Speaker
Yeah, that's that's interesting. Yeah, for consumers, the idea of natural is appealing, but there's a lot of trade-offs that they're not always willing to take to get that natural. and up Yeah, I agree with you. And I think the trade-off is the taste, right? The overall experience. Absolutely. Yeah, and price. yeah price too, because like you want the more natural thing. But if it's costs, it's if it's going to cost you a little bit more, maybe you trade down to have something that's more affordable. So I think that's a big piece of this too. And a big piece of the overall overallw success of the industry is we have to have
00:29:13
Speaker
a price point that is attractive and accessible, right? We can't expect consumers to trade up for a plant-based product that's going to cost them 20% more than the conventional thing and not deliver on the key attributes of like taste or texture or nutrition. Yes. Yes.
00:29:32
Speaker
ah So yeah, touching on that I wanted to, you know, ask you about the labeling and at the start of this discussion you mentioned the regulatory price process. And ah one thing I know is that, and and maybe this is, I'm trying to play devil's advocate here, but as a consumer, I'm so used to seeing so many ingredients mentioned on my label now.
00:29:52
Speaker
ah Firstly, do you think consumers are now like, these guys are like messing with me. you knowre They're like, I'm sure there's something else on this that's not on this label. And I'm sure that is something you would have maybe encountered when you're going through your regulatory process with the FDA. right So can you explain those two aspects of it? Like how was the regulatory you know approval process for you? What were they afraid of? What did they like?
00:30:16
Speaker
and what did they want to promote, and and of course from the consumer side in terms of what are consumers seeing when you you know when you only disclose little information on the nutritional side as well as on the ingredient side.
00:30:29
Speaker
So with the consumers and in terms of disclosing the ingredients and the nutrition, if you're not disclosing what's really in it, I mean, that's illegal. So, right, you can't withhold the ingredients in your product. um that that That would be awful. So um i haven't I haven't seen that argument or I haven't heard consumers say like, what aren't you telling me? I think we all, at least I have faith and trust in our, you know,
00:30:58
Speaker
regulatory um bodies that that they are protecting us as consumers. um So first, I just want to call that out. Like if you're not disclosing everything like that, that that's simply illegal. um But in terms of the regulatory process that we went through, it was So interesting. I learned so much throughout the whole process. I find it absolutely fascinating. um But for us to get our, so we went through the self-grasp process. And so what that means is that we essentially prepared an argument, a dossier, to say that we believe our products are safe for human consumption because of all of the supporting evidence. So what went into our dossier was everything about the composition of our consortium,
00:31:44
Speaker
the entire manufacturing process, so how we go from the you know microbes through the fermentation to the downstream processing to the final product, and literally you have to disclose things like your media recipe and write the the species within that consortium. It's so incredibly detailed. um It's far more than you would ever disclose in a patent, for example. like It truly is step-by-step how you create this product.
00:32:08
Speaker
And then we also have to bring the safety data. So luckily for us, this, the microbes in our consortium have been well studied and are in the food system in different ways. And so we were able to point to those different um scientific journals and papers to say,
00:32:26
Speaker
Here's the safety data, right? Here's the toxicology studies that have been done. Here's the allergenicity studies that have been done. And luckily, our products do not elicit an allergen response. And then we had to go through testing of our products. So we worked with a third party lab to understand what are all of the different um potential toxins or you know heavy metal testing and shelf life testing. And so we went through this entire process, compiled all the results, all of the safety data, and made the argument that was essentially
00:33:02
Speaker
Here's what we're doing. Here's how we do it. Here's what we get right? Here's the finished product Here's the recommended amount that consumers will be eating this so maybe it's a six ounce portion or a three ounce portion And here's all of the information that we know about this product that we have found in industry and in scientific journals and and papers and so because of that we believe our product's safe for human consumption. So we compiled all of that. um I mean, it was a year plus process. And then we went through an independent panel review, right? So they look at all of that. um They write up their sort of analysis. And then we came back with, okay, our independent panel also concludes that this is safe for human consumption.
Regulatory Process and Product Safety
00:33:44
Speaker
And so now having that dossier compiled and have gone through the independent panel review,
00:33:51
Speaker
We now can launch our products in the market. like we We took a really conservative approach um to do this regulatory process. because um we could have just launched products in the market without going through the grass process, but there is a risk there, right? The FDA could come and say, you know, what are you guys doing? We want to learn more. But now if we had any questions, we could provide the dossier and it's just step by step. Here's what we're doing. Here's why it's safe. And so it's really exciting because now that we have this, um you know, regulatory dossier complete, now we can launch our products in the market. And so that's the phase we're in now is getting our products in restaurants around Chicagoland. Well, thank you so much for joining us, Brittany. It was a pleasure having you on. And um I hope that we not only see the aquacultured foods, ah alternative seafood on the McDonald's menu, which Anthony will love. I also hope that it comes on Instagram reads where Salt Pei is doing his salt sprinkling thing. Yeah. And of course, when that happens ah to all our listeners, you know that we will be the one of the first ones to talk about it.
00:34:56
Speaker
Thank you so much for joining us again, Brittany. And to all our listeners, if you like our podcast, please feel free to give us a rating. We will really appreciate a five star rating and please share this with your friends and your family. And yeah, hope to catch you guys in the next one. Thank you so much everyone for joining. Thank you. Thank you.
00:35:18
Speaker
Innovation Matters is a production of Lux Research, the leading sustainable innovation research and advisory firm. You can follow this podcast on Apple Music, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. If you
Conclusion and Further Engagement
00:35:32
Speaker
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