Aqua Cultured Foods specializes in the creation of sustainable seafood alternatives and it is exploring the future of fish-free seafood with products like calamari fries that mimic its seafood counterpart in taste, texture and nutrition. The Chicago startup taps into the power of microbial fermentation to develop sushi-grade calamari from mycoprotein.
Like regular calamari, Aqua Cultured Foods' fish-free calamari sticks can be battered and fried as usual for a great-tasting result. Culinary advisor and chef Johnny Carino says, "As you bite in, you get an immediate crunch note that combines with the realistic, slightly chewy texture of the calamari. It looks and acts like calamari. There was no learning curve as you’d expect with a completely new product or ingredient."
The startup is also exploring the use of microbial fermentation to create other alternative seafood products.
What Makes This Trend Stand Out
- Fish-free Seafood
- Creating sustainable seafood alternatives through the power of microbial fermentation presents opportunities for disrupting the seafood industry.
- Alternative Protein
- The development of mycoprotein-based seafood alternatives provides opportunities for disruptive innovation in the protein industry.
- Plant-based Seafood
- Exploring the use of fermentation to create plant-based seafood alternatives offers opportunities for disrupting the plant-based food industry.
Sectors Adopting This
- Seafood Industry
- The seafood industry can benefit from exploring sustainable fish-free alternatives through microbial fermentation.
- Protein Industry
- The protein industry can explore the development of mycoprotein-based seafood to offer alternatives to traditional protein sources.
- Plant-based Food Industry
- Using fermentation to create plant-based seafood alternatives presents opportunities for disruptive innovation in the plant-based food industry.
