Singapore’s Ants Innovate, a deep tech startup focusing on developing cultivated whole meat cuts, held a private tasting to debut Cell Essence, a functional ingredient designed for hybrid (cell- and plant-based) products that is said to deliver an authentic meaty flavor.
The Good Food Institute APAC reports that the company featured porcine Cell Essence in different meat alternative dishes, including meatballs, Shanghai-style soup dumplings, and teriyaki grilled meat skewers at the tasting.
Attendee Calisa Lim, Senior Project Manager at APAC-SCA, shared on social media, “In a private tasting session today, the versatile cultivated oil was incorporated into an IKEA-style meatball, Shanghai-style xiao long bao (!), and a teriyaki grilled skewer. The small percentage of cells (<3%) was enough to deliver on the sweet, salty, and umami flavor that conventional pork has.”
Solutions to mimic the meat-eating experience
A spin-off from A*STAR, Ants Innovate was founded by Professor Hanry Yu and Ong Shujian in 2020 to develop cell and food technologies to produce delicious, affordable, and healthy animal-free meat for the mass market.
In its quest to create products that mimic the complete meat-eating experience, the Singaporean startup has developed various technologies, along with Cell Essence, to precisely control the appearance and texture of cell and hybrid alternatives.
Cell Essence technology, described as a “novel technology designed to capture the maximum flavor of meat,” isolates the unique flavor and aroma compounds characteristic of meat from animal cells.
“Add Cell Essence™ to any product, take a bite and experience the burst of meaty flavors and aroma,” says the startup on its website.
On the other hand, the scalable precision texture control technology utilizes novel micro-scale engineering and scalable imprinting to create complex whole cuts that mimic meat’s authentic bite and fibrous texture.
Another solution, the “Appearance Control” technology, combines food chemistry and biology knowledge to control the product’s appearance without artificial food coloring or additives, delivering a 100% natural visual appeal. Meanwhile, an “Automation Instrument” that uses process and design engineering, transforms ingredients and Cell Essence into end products seamlessly.
Cutting-edge technologies
Among other milestones, Ants Innovate says it has established various non-GMO cell lines and opened a city laboratory and pilot plant at Bedok Food. Additionally, in 2022, the company launched NouMi, a brand of plant-based products offering meat alternatives to dumplings, baos, BBQ meat, curry puffs, gyozas, and spring rolls made with premium plant-based ingredients.
Moreover, last year, the company partnered with Beijing CytoNiche to establish a joint laboratory in Singapore, accelerating the development of cultivated meat products by integrating cell and tissue engineering, precision engineering, and food science.
“Inspired by the ‘Ant and Lion’ story, we want to build a company where our stakeholders (including ground-level staff and interns) can fully develop and realize everyone’s potentials to innovate unhindered with minimal hierarchies, open minds, and lots of mentorship.
“Thus, all the ‘ants’ are accountable to each other to develop cutting-edge technologies and translate them into functional ingredients and great food products,” Ants Innovate shares on its website.
