Million dollar grant to develop “fish free fish”
Two companies thousands of miles apart have received a million US dollars to help develop fish free “salmon”.
Oshi from Israel and The Better Meat Company in California say they are working together to create a healthy, humane and sustainable alternative to actual fish.
They have received the grant from the Binational Industrial Research and Development (BIRD) Foundation.
The fillets (pictured) are made using 3D technology and a fermentation process involving mycoproteins.
The high-protein, minimally processed whole cuts will deliver the same taste and nutrition found in conventional fish, the producers say.
The Better Meat Company says on its website that wild salmon populations are in steep decline while those that remain are often contaminated by pollutants.
It adds: “Israel’s Oshi and the United States’ Better Meat Co. are working together to create a healthy, humane, and sustainable alternative to salmon that delivers on taste and nutrition without harming fish or human health.
“Combining Oshi’s cutting edge 3D technology and The Better Meat Co.’s innovative mycoprotein fermentation technology, the two start-ups will use the BIRD grant to create fish-free salmon whole cuts made from a high-protein, all-natural, whole food mycoprotein with nearly no processing at all.”
Oshi co-founder Dr. Ariel Szklanny said: “We’re honoured to be selected for this prestigious grant with The Better Meat Co. and look forward to reducing pressure on our finned friends by making alt-salmon fillets that are better than the ‘reel’ thing.”
Joanna Bromley, co-founder of The Better Meat Co added: “Humanity only stopped harpooning whales once there were better alternatives to whale oil. Our goal is to create better alternatives to salmon with our friends at Oshi, so we can leave more fish where they belong: in the water.”
Based in Rehovot, Israel, Oshi was set up as Plantish in 22021 while The Better Meat Company is based in Sacramento, California and is five years old.
