South Korean plant-based foods producer Pulmuone has signed a business agreement with ABB Korea Robotics, the local corporation of Switzerland’s ABB, to develop cultivated seafood.
The collaboration aims to automate the cultivation process for seafood using ABB’s robotics technology, with a target of mass-producing cultivated seafood products by 2026.
According to the announcement, the companies hope to spearhead research and development in AI robotics for cellular agriculture. At the same time, Pulmuone expects this partnership to be the world’s first to apply AI robotic automation to cultivated meat production.
Both companies will focus on several areas, including the robotic automation of the seafood cell cultivation process, enhancing production efficiency, protecting intellectual property, sharing research facilities and equipment, and exchanging specialized personnel.
Key representatives from both companies attended the signing ceremony, including Pulmuone’s Food Safety Lab director Kim Sang-gu, ABB Korea Robotics Vice President Song Tae-jun, and Craig McDonnell, the industry head for ABB’s robotics division (featured image).
Expansion in alt proteins
Pulmuone is a renowned global tofu manufacturer and the parent company of US plant-based brands Nasoya and Wildwood. In the last few years, the company has expanded into the alt protein industry through investments and partnerships with cultivated meat and mycoprotein companies.
The South Korean company, an investor in the US-cultivated seafood company BlueNalu, has also signed an agreement with the company to commercialize its cultivated tuna in South Korea.
Pulmuone is also working with the South Korean startup Simple Planet to co-develop and commercialize hybrid cultivated meat products. More recently, it partnered with the mycelium tech company Infinite Roots (formerly Mushlabs) to develop innovative fungi protein products tailored to the needs and taste preferences of the South Korean market.
Kim Sang-gu, head of the Food Safety Office at Pulmuone Technology Institute, commented on the cultivated seafood agreement, “By combining ABB’s AI robotics technology, a world-class leading company in automation and robotics, with Pulmuone’s specialized fishery cell culture source technology, we expect to strengthen technological competitiveness and create more synergy in the research and development of advanced fishery food technology.
“In the near future, we will lead breakthrough technological innovation by accelerating the establishment of an innovative mass-production system for sustainable fishery cell-cultured food.”