Today I’m interviewing Mihir Pershad, co-founder of Umami Meats, a cultivated seafood company in Singapore.
Mihir has great in-depth knowledge of the fish farming industry and does an amazing job explaining and articulating the complexities of traditional seafood agriculture. What I really enjoyed is that he captures the nuances and the problems quite well.
This gives him a significant advantage when he launched Umami Meats, which focuses on cultivated seafood.
After this interview, Umami Meats had people try their product in Singapore’s fine dining among other cultivate meat brands so they are innovating fast!
Be prepared to swim in fish and seafood facts in this interview.
Mihir is super knowledgeable in not just the fish industry but understands just how the whole world works and that insight enlightened me a lot about just how it’s all connected.
If you’re planning to start a business, Mihir does a great job explaining just a lot of things that are really useful for entrepenuers such as understanding your market, funding in Singapore, and finding research on research that doesn’t even exist. One thing is prominent in this interview is that Mihir knows fish facts!
What’s Up with Adam
I just got back from a 3 day trip to North Carolina. I’m an advisor to a new product development course that my professor and others are kind of in charge of. It’s nice actually critiquing my professor’s work this time around.
Not only that, but I caught up with my professor friend and past guest Dr. Gabriel Keith Harris and interviewed on his podcast, which will come out soon.
Overall, it was a touching experience I’ll talk more about at the end of the episode.
Ok, so what’s going on in the world? Well, if you’re not in food. Quite a lot. Meta layed off 11,000 people, the midterms has stunning results that shocked everyone, and FTX, one of the largest crypto exchanges in the world went bankrupt losing about $8. Billion dollars Different podcast, cough Crisis Meets Opportunity.
In food, there’s a lot of conferences. So many of my friends and colleagues seem to be packing their bags and traveling. We have a huge food tech conference in Israel
And even in the United States I see a few of my friends going to the Private Label Manufacturing Show
This week, COP27, or the Climate The 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference or Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC, more commonly referred to as COP27, is the 27th United Nations Climate Change conference and is being held from 6 November until 18 November 2022 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. It’s essentially a 12 day conference where nations evaluate the climate crisis and get to the action.
It’s the first time I’ve heard of this, because apparently, it’s the first time food tech has been presented here and my friends at JUST/GOOD Meat presented their amazing cultivated chicken in Egypt.
Apparently, food was a big focus this year, and not just food tech. Food waste, and regenerative agriculture were all big, but I think the core of the issue was talking about the devastation that climate change has brought to farmers in third world countries. I’ve heard stories myself traveling, but with the rising heat, unpredictable flash floods, and storms, farmers from countries like Rwanda are really suffering from what we think is a small problem in the West.
Humans generally have a problem thinking proactively and have their well-being for others at heart. It’s human nature. We all do selfish things and it’s hard to understand how our lifestyle actually has detrimental effects on other countries.
Of course, there’s always paradoxes going to climate summits as you realize it’s a bunch of rich people flying in private jets to eat $100 dollar steak in air conditioned hotels.
In general, the solutions we try to make for the climate crisis is rooted in the fact that the easier, more comfortable option in life would also be the more sustainable option. This is kind of why technology exists.
I do believe that climate issues are becoming more prominent and people are generally paying more attention because enow the problems are causing chain reactions throughout the world. It is debateable if conferences like these are useful overall. I guess so as in conferences, they’re not only a lot of fun, but when used right can proliferate partnerships and be used as a megaphone to showcase your accomplishments. One example is GOOD Meat’s cultivated tastings. What they did with Singapore, they are now amplifying their experiences and getting more people interested.
Umami Meats among other cultivated companies are now doing private tastings in Singapore. In fact, one of their restaurant weeks had their fish ball listed as a course.
The impact of an experience like a private dinner or a global conference is really hard to take away and even though we might see this as destructive, most people will do them because they only live once. It’s a real struggle and no one is perfect at this.
Enjoy this interview with Mihir Pershad.
Links
Singapore Science Park
Biopolus
North Carolina Biochemistry Disease
Goldfish cells on the International Space Station
Mike Selden – Finless Foods
Legal Seafood Interview
30 by 30
Michal Klar at Better Bite Ventures
Tilapia
Blue Fin Tuna
Abalone
Inflation Reduction Act
Eels get airfreighted all the time
Cultivated Abundance a book by Mihir Pershad
Jumbo Chili Crab