In the near future, Dokdo shrimp cultured meat and caviar made with serum-free growth medium will be available in specialty stores and convenience stores. In October 2023, CellMEAT’s products became the first in Korea to begin the approval process for cell-cultured foods from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. CellMEAT was the first in Korea to overcome the numerous challenges of alternative meat. These cell-cultured foods are produced without the need to slaughter animals, raise them unethically, or pollute the environment. Cell-cultured meat is a representative food tech technology product that is attracting attention in the context of climate change and crises. This food source replaces existing meat by cultivating muscle tissue cells. CellMEAT is Korea’s first and the world’s third food tech company focused on research and development. It has developed a serum-free growth medium to substitute for FBS (Fetal Bovine Serum) growth medium, which enables the commercialization and market entry of cell-cultured meat.

CellMEAT, a foodtech company that produces alternative foods, derives its name from combining “cell” and “meat.” The corporation was established in March 2019 by CEO Park Gil-jun, who holds a doctorate in the United States and has worked as a researcher in Finland. CEO Park majored in cell biology and molecular biology, leveraging his expertise to enter the alternative meat business. In December 2019, just nine months after its founding, CellMEAT was selected for TIPS (Tech Incubator Program for Startups), an early recognition as a company with world-class technology. Interest in alternative meat has grown since the government announced the “Green Bio Convergence New Industry Promotion Plan” in 2020. The following year, in February 2021, CellMEAT began its journey toward successful commercialization by attracting significant investment.

The most challenging aspect of cell-cultured foods is the high price and limited supply of serum growth media. There is also the ethical issue of animal welfare, as serum is collected from the pregnant bodies of live cows. As an alternative, CellMEAT has developed a serum-free medium that completely replaces FBS with its technology. The development of an FBS-free cell culture medium is a challenge that all cultured meat companies worldwide are facing. At the end of 2021, CellMEAT succeeded in developing a serum-free medium for the third time in the world and the first time in Korea. The cost of culture media, which used to be in the range of KRW 1 million per 500 ml, was reduced to less than KRW 1,000, laying the foundation for full-scale mass production. In addition, the CellMEAT Cell Culture Center was built in Guri-si, Gyeonggi Province, with the capacity to produce 150 tons of cell culture media annually.

CellMEAT’s non-animal serum-free culture medium, formulated with crustacean-specific nutrients, accelerates cell culture and enables final harvest in just two days. The initial challenge focused on shrimp due to its importance in the crustacean market. Dokdo shrimp are found exclusively in the deep sea around Dokdo Island. CellMEAT initiated the production of cultured meat products using cells from Dokdo shrimp. On December 17, 2021, CellMEAT introduced Dokdo Shrimp as its first cultured meat offering. These shrimp, which are unique to the East Sea of Korea, command a high price of more than KRW 400,000 per kilogram. Dokdo Shrimp, which represents Korea, has paved the way for widespread popularity in the domestic market. Following the launch of its first cultured meat product, Dokdo Shrimp, CellMEAT successfully developed a prototype of “Caviar” using Dokdo Shrimp as the main ingredient in May 2023. It retains the taste and texture while remaining cost effective. Expectations are high for CellMEAT, which has these products and technology for cultured beef, pork and chicken.