Our patented technology enables us to produce more seafood from less fish!
Increased efficiency in production enables the holistic introduction of more raw-material into the food chain
What we do
AquaFood’s mission is to take care of the side streams from fish production for upcycling into high-value components and increase efficiency and sustainability in the value-chain.
We see the huge potential in the sidestreams of today’s seafood production and have created a technology for capturing that great value! Our technology uses the heads, fins, frames, meat remaining on the bones, etc. that constitute the sidestreams of regular fish production. With these raw materials, we create high-quality, and high-value oils, a unique, premium, and high-functionality protein mass of food grade quality as well as marine collagen.
Benefits
Intact protein chains
Our protein isolates retain their product forming capabilities thanks to protein chains staying intact throughout the extraction process. Perfect for various food applications!
Food grade end-products
The end-products coming from our technology are of food-grade quality and can immediately be incorporated into other products or made into one itself!
Cold process
Performing the whole process in the cold means less energy needed, and therefore also less of an economic, and environmental cost. It also means that the sensitive marine raw material is not damaged and will result in a higher quality product.
Why we do it
We do it because we want to ensure that we can live sustainably on our planet and thrive, not just now, but for the future to come! Because sustainability is not just an option, it is the only way forward!
Today, our global food system is a major driver of climate change. It accounts for 33% of all greenhouse gas emissions, a third of global land usage, and two-thirds of groundwater withdrawal. In seafood production, the amount of raw material that escapes the value chain goes remarkably above the average of food production. As much as 50-70% of the raw material is not transformed into food today.
At the same time as the growing global population demands more sustainable food and protein, our ecosystems are pressured, and much of our oceans are overfished.
We believe that resource efficiency is the key solution to facing these problems. AquaFood offers a technology that has the capability of enabling seafood producers to upcycle their sidestreams and transform these into high-quality food components and ingredients in high yields. This way, more of the raw material can remain in the value chain. A great win both from a sustainability aspect as well as an economical one.
Team
Mehdi Abdollahi – CEO & Co-founder
Docent – Food & Nutrition Science
Oliver Östensen – COO & Co-founder
MSc – Business Creation & Entrepreneurship
Thomas Granlund – Commercial Manager
business developer & startup experience within the food industry
Ingrid Undeland – Board Member & Co-founder
Prof. Food & Nutrition Science
Mehdi Ghalebani – Technical Manager
MSc – Chemical Engineering & Industrial Ecology
Jingnan Zhang – R&D Scientist
PhD – Food & Nutrition Science
News
08/09 – 23 Oversubscribed Pre-seed round closed
AquaFood closes a pre-seed investment round of 2.2 MSEK. 🐟🎉
The round was closed with new- and one previous investor. We are super excited and looking forward to having all of you on-board for the journey ahead!
This investment round will enable the company to reach the coming milestones. These include; expanding our core team and making sure that we are fully prepared for executing the next steps in our company development. We will accelerate our market efforts and aim for signed LOIs with food producers and selected partners. In parallel, we will continue designing and finalizing the first draft of our initial industrial scale production line and plant design.
We are looking at the future in a bright light and excited to take AquaFood to the next level with people that share our devotion for the ocean! 🌊
#sustainability #food #seafood #fish
29/03 – 23 Customer event – Taste testing salmon proteins
We recently had an incredible event together with IKEA, Marenor Seafood, and @Fiskidag to taste-test our unique high-functionality salmon protein mass made sustainably from fish side streams. It was fantastic to see people so excited about our sustainable approach to food production and the delicious taste of our product! 🐟
Our team has worked tirelessly to develop a protein mass that not only delivers the necessary nutrients for a healthy diet but also tastes great and has the high functionality needed for product forming. We believe that sustainability and taste should not be mutually exclusive, and our product is a testament to that.
At the event, we received valuable feedback and we’re grateful for all participants’ support and enthusiasm. We are confident that our product will become a staple in the seafood industry as we work to make sustainable food production accessible to everyone! 🌍
Thank you to everyone who joined us for this event! We’re excited to continue this journey with all of you! #sustainability #food #seafood #fish
27/11 – 22 Pilot Trials in Ellös
Tasting the fruit of our labor… Literally!
AquaFood ran a pilot trial together with Sweden Pelagic AB using herring as the raw material. The trials were run at a semi-industrial scale and all parts of the fish was used, including the roe. We tested different combinations of parts from the raw material in order to evaluate yields, differences in the process, etc.
The goals for the pilot project was to prove the scalability of our technology along with demonstrating high yields of high-quality, food-grade proteins and oils even from this complex aquatic biomass. The extraction was done in cold temperatures to ensure that the sensitive marine raw material was not damaged during the process. This means that the protein chains will stay intact and retain their product-forming capabilities and their nutritional value.
We are happy to say that the pilot trial was a success! Both in showcasing the scalability of our technology and in demonstrating the quality of the proteins and oils!
We of course made sure to fry it up straight out of the production line and try it ourselves! Check out the picture on the right!
17/11 – 22 Innovative Impact Startups
We are absolutely thrilled to be able to announce that AquaFood has been awarded a grant from Vinnova! This grant is only given to promising startups and projects which core business is focused on contributing to solving any of the global goals for sustainable development.
The money is a welcome boost in supporting our journey going forward. It offers the means we need to reach our next big milestone and be one step closer to reaching the market.
Stay tuned for more exciting news, as our journey is only just beginning!