Japanese cellular agriculture specialist IntegriCulture has introduced Cellag, a brand to sell its own products, as well as those by other companies, across the food, cosmetics, and materials categories.
To drive greater interest and adoption of bio-based innovations across the globe, Tokyo-based IntegriCulture has kicked off a new brand championing cellular agriculture.
Called Cellag, it is designed as an “open brand” that will house innovations produced both by IntegriCulture and other companies in the space.
A pioneer in Japan’s cultivated meat industry, the company is aiming to “collectively grow” the cellular agriculture sector into an “industry valued and needed by all”, with a focus on future-friendly food, supplements, cosmetics and materials.
IntegriCulture targets ‘protein crisis’ with Cellag brand
IntegriCulture argues that the world is undergoing a “protein crisis”, referring to an imbalance in supply and demand caused by population growth, economic development, and the climate crisis.
Animal agriculture emits up to a fifth of the world’s greenhouse gases, taking up 80% of its farmland and 70% of its freshwater supply. But the demand for meat is set to grow by 6% between today and 2034, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.
There simply aren’t don’t have enough resources to meet this demand. And even if we did, it would only wreck the planet further, with research suggesting animal agriculture is the leading cause of climate change when using updated greenhouse gas accounting measures.
Alternative proteins like cultivated meat can drastically reduce this impact, allowing companies to produce food with a fraction of the land and water, with a significantly lower GHG footprint (especially when using renewable energy).
It’s why IntegriCulture has identified cellular agriculture as a key solution to plug the supply-demand gap and mitigate the climate crisis.
Through Cellag, it aims to foster a “new culture” that integrates these technologies with regional characteristics and traditions, labelling the approach “cellular agriculture terroir”. It will now work with a range of global partners to realise this shift.
A big year for IntegriCulture
The logo of the Cellag brand, part of IntegriCulture’s vision of “universally accessible cellular agriculture”, is designed to represent “the fusion of ‘cell’ and ‘agriculture’.
The blue colour symbolises “advanced technology, trust, and the bounty of water”, and the yellow signifies “vitality, abundance, and solar energy”. Together, they’re meant to represent a future where technology and nature exist harmoniously.
The brand launch comes at the end of a big year for IntegriCulture, which has notched a host of partnerships and made moves to scale up and expand its global presence.
In April, it unveiled several prototype cultivated duck dishes and products this spring – including foie gras, a sweet and sour posset, a spicy blood sausage, and a cocoa-liver paste – months after receiving a special overdraft loan of ¥100M ($685,000) from Mizuho Bank.
It then began shipping its Cell-Cultured Meat Starter Kit, first unveiled last year, to universities across the globe, in a bid to fast-track cultivated meat R&D. Further, IntegriCulture commissioned an Advanced C-CulNet system to enable commercial-scale production of animal-free serum for cell-cultured protein production.
The firm has also been delving into the marine biotechnology world. It advanced its R&D partnership with Ichimasa Kamaboko and Maruha Nichiro to develop a cultivated fish paste, and teamed up with Singapore’s Umami Bioworks to develop beauty and skincare products using cultured fish cells.
And last week, it held the first user meeting for Ocatté Base, its marketplace for food-grade materials for cellular agriculture, and announced an R&D collaboration with Tsunan Sake Brewery to use its “natural water” to create cell-cultured food and cosmetic ingredients.
These developments come amid expanding public support for future food in Japan. New prime minister Sanae Takaichi’s list of economic growth priorities includes a focus on food tech and synthetic biology, with a growth strategy set to be published by June 2026.
Source - https://www.greenqueen.com.hk
