Tsunami Brewery Partners with Integriculture to Innovate Cell-Cultured Food Production

Tsunami Brewery, based in Tsunan Town, Niigata Prefecture, has embarked on an exciting collaboration with Integriculture, a Tokyo-based company that specializes in cellular agricultural technology. This partnership aims to leverage the pristine natural waters of the Tsunan region alongside Integriculture’s innovative methods to develop and evaluate prototypes of cell-cultured foods and cosmetic ingredients.

This initiative comes against a backdrop of growing global challenges related to population increase and environmental sustainability. The demand for cell-cultured food as a sustainable protein source is surging, with Integriculture leading the way in developing technologies aimed at significantly reducing production costs and expanding scalability.

Tsunami Brewery continues to uphold its tradition of Sake brewing, utilizing locally-sourced natural water and rice. However, they are also looking ahead towards innovation. The brewery acknowledges the importance of creating new value and contributing to regional revitalization, particularly through initiatives that incorporate AI and IoT technology to promote smart brewing practices. They are focused on upcycling by transforming by-products like sake lees into new products, thereby building a sustainable circular model.

The union of Integriculture's cellular agricultural capabilities, which can be deployed in a local and decentralized manner, and Tsunami Brewery's commitment to preserving local water resources has paved the way for this groundbreaking collaboration. It represents a monumental first step toward nationwide regional initiatives in cellular agriculture, merging traditional brewing assets such as water, fermentation techniques, and heritage with cutting-edge cellular farming technologies.

Looking towards the future, both companies plan to evaluate the quality of cell-cultured samples derived from natural water. There are ambitions to install Integriculture’s cultivation facilities at Tsunami Brewery to create a microbrewery-based production center for cellular agriculture, a concept which harmonizes innovation in traditional brewing with advanced agricultural science.

Yuki Habu, CEO of Integriculture, expressed enthusiasm about the partnership, stating, “I am thrilled to take this first step with the esteemed Tsunami Brewery toward a future where our water resources and cellular agricultural technology combine to yield new value. This collaboration is crucial as we look to establish cellular agriculture as a model for community coexistence across the country.”

Kengo Suzuki, President of Tsunami Brewery, acknowledged the shared urgency felt by many local breweries to innovate and safeguard their futures. “Like many local breweries, we felt a strong sense of crisis that merely preserving tradition isn’t sufficient for the future. Understanding Integriculture’s potential to localize cellular agriculture ignited our vision to establish a microbrewery-type production facility here in Tsunan. We aim for this community coexistence model to be a meaningful example for regions across the country,” he commented.