Hong Kong cultivated seafood start-up Avant Meats seeks funds to expand Singapore pilot plant to grow groupers, snappers, eel meat from cells
- Global fishing practices have resulted in nearly 90 per cent of the world’s marine fish stocks becoming fully exploited, overexploited or depleted
- Consumption of seafood is accelerating with the US$580 billion market expected to grow by 5.3 per cent annually
Avant Meats, a cultivated seafood company that started life in Hong Kong, is planning a 30-fold expansion in its capacity to make sustainable seafood for global markets after positive response from consumers at a recent tasting event.
Global fishing practices have resulted in nearly 90 per cent of the world’s marine fish stocks becoming fully exploited, overexploited or depleted and consumption is accelerating with the US$580 billion market expected to grow by 5.3 per cent annually. Sustainable seafood comes from operations that minimise harmful environmental impacts, helping ensure healthy and resilient ocean ecosystems.
“It showed how cultivated fish can be used in Chinese cuisine, including dishes made with the spicy Sichuan mala sauce, steamed fish in ginger and spring onion,” CEO and co-founder Carrie Chan Kai-yi told the Post on the sidelines of sustainability conference One Earth Summit in Hong Kong. “We got very good feedback from the tasters … our product can also be used in pan-fried fillet, fish batter and burgers.”
While approval by the Singapore Food Agency for marketing the manufactured alternative to farmed and seafood caught in the wild is not expected until late in the year or early next year, Carrie Chan Kai-yi said feedback at a tasting event held last November has made her confident about her expansion plans.
The tasting event was held on Sentosa Island at a restaurant owned by Genting Ventures, part of Malaysian conglomerate Genting Group and an investor in the sustainable seafood company.
Investment in Asia-Pacific’s alternative-protein market surged 43 per cent to US$562 million in 2022 from 2021, according to non-profit Good Food Institute (GFI) APAC. Annual global cultivated meat sales could reach US$25 billion by 2030, according to its forecast.
