Integriculture and Tsunan Brewing Begin Joint Development for Sustainable Protein Sources

Integriculture and Tsunan Brewing's Innovative Partnership

On December 2, 2025, in Tokyo, Integriculture Inc., a company committed to implementing cell culture technology into society, announced its partnership with Tsunan Brewing Co., based in Niigata Prefecture. This collaboration aims to create cell-cultured food and cosmetic ingredients by merging Integriculture's advanced cell agriculture technology with Tsunan Brewing's rich natural water resources from the Tsunan region. Through this initiative, Integriculture seeks to promote a decentralized, local model of cell agriculture anchored in regional coexistence, with Tsunan Brewing as the backbone.

Background and Purpose of the Partnership

In response to global population growth and environmental challenges, there is a rising expectation for cell-cultured foods as a sustainable source of protein. Integriculture has been developing technology focused on reducing costs and enabling mass production of cell-cultured products. On the other hand, Tsunan Brewing, known for its traditional sake production utilizing local rice and natural water, is actively working on creating new value from its resources while addressing local revitalization issues. Their efforts include promoting 'smart brewing' with AI and IoT, along with upcycling projects that convert sake byproducts into novel products, thereby focusing on building sustainable circular models.

The partnership emerged from the convergence of Integriculture's cell agriculture technology, which can be deployed locally, and Tsunan Brewing's commitment to preserving and utilizing the region's water resources. This joint development marks the first step in Integriculture's aim for nationwide regional deployment of cell agriculture technologies, blending traditional brewing assets (such as water, fermentation techniques, and culture) with innovative cell agriculture to create new industries from the local level.

Future Outlook: Transforming Breweries into Microbrewery Production Bases

Through this collaborative research, both companies will begin with quality evaluations of cultured samples using natural water. In the long run, the plan is to install Integriculture's cultivation technology in Tsunan Brewing's facilities, ultimately establishing a 'microbrewery-type' cell agriculture hub. This initiative aims to serve as a model for a regional coexistence model in Tsunan and will leverage local resources and cell agriculture technologies to balance sustainable food futures with local revitalization throughout Japan.

Comments from Tsunan Brewing Representative, Kengo Suzuki

Kengo Suzuki, the CEO of Tsunan Brewing, expressed, 'Like many local sake breweries, we feel a strong sense of urgency that merely preserving tradition will not secure our future. During this journey, we learned about Integriculture's cell agriculture technology's capacity to be deployed locally instead of in a centralized manner.

Our goal is to embody the concept of 'Brew For Future—brewing a future of coexistence' by combining Integriculture's expertise with our local resources and to realize a 'microbrewery production base' here in Tsunan. We are committed to making this regional coexistence model a significant case study referenced nationwide.'

Comments from Integriculture's CEO, Yuki Habu

Integriculture's CEO, Yuki Habu, expressed his happiness about taking this first step with the traditional Tsunan Brewing. He believes that by merging the crucial resource of water with their cell agriculture technology, new values will emerge. This partnership represents a pivotal partnership for deploying cell agriculture as a 'regional coexistence model' nationwide. Together with Suzuki-san, they aim to realize this 'microbrewery production base' from Tsunan and contribute to a sustainable food future alongside local revitalization.