Pearlita Has Developed an Alternative Oyster that CULT Management Believes May be Critical in Solving Part of the World’s Growing Food Security Crisis
TORONTO, July 20, 2022 /CNW/ – CULT Food Science Corp. (“CULT” or the “Company”) (CSE: CULT) (OTC: CULTF) (FRA: LN0), an innovative investment platform with an exclusive focus on cellular agriculture that is advancing the development of novel technologies to provide a sustainable, environmental, and ethical solution to the global factory farming and aquaculture crises, is pleased to announce that Pearlita Foods (“Pearlita“), a venture in which it is invested, has successfully manufactured its and the world’s first alternative oyster prototype (the “Prototype“). The Prototype was grown to appear and taste the same as a traditional oyster from the ocean while being produced in a sustainable and ethical manner.
As oysters are a favourite type of seafood among consumers, especially in coastal cities around the world, Pearlita recently embarked upon the path of developing a cultivated oyster. The Prototype consists of a proprietary mushroom and seaweed base and Pealita’s novel flavour concoction gives the cultivated oyster a pure, delicate and authentic ocean taste and texture. Pearlita also plans to create biodegradable oyster shells that will make shucking its cultivated oysters easier for consumers.
Although popular, traditional oysters are known to cause foodborne illnesses and have almost completely gone extinct due to overfishing.1 Therefore, Pearlita is explicitly motivation to make a difference in the seafood industry and it is striving to make cultivated oysters and other cell-based seafood commonplace as it is essential for traditional oysters to remain in the oceans and contribute to healthy ecosystems.
Global warming and heat waves are currently creating a number of problems for the food industry. First, the extensive heatwave in China could further diminish the production of corn and soy, which in turn may worsen inflation for those products as well as pork for consumers around the world.
Pearlita’s innovation is critical at a time like this as cultivated seafood could serve as a key solution to help reduce food shortages and food prices. The current inflation rate is the highest in approximately 40 years in key markets like the United States and Canada, while climate change is causing intense heat, flooding, droughts, wildfires, and other disasters that are making it more difficult to produce and distribute food products.2 As such, CULT and Pearlita are dedicated to contributing feasible solutions rooted in cellular agriculture and cultivated alternatives to the world’s food supply chain crisis.
CULT previously announced its investment in Pearlita in April of 2022, after being captivated by the venture’s innovative solutions and proposed alternatives to consuming oysters from the ocean. Based in Raleigh, North Carolina, Pearlita has been determined to make the first cultivated oyster meat. It aims to produce oysters with no reliance on the ocean or live animals, by using stem cells and bioreactors to produce cell-based oysters that have rich flavour and substantial nutrition.
Going forward, Pearlita plans to develop squid and scallop prototypes as well and work on scaling up production. By strategically investing in Pearlita, CULT increased its involvement in the future of cell-based seafood, which is aligned with its goals to help commercialize cellular agriculture in the global food supply chain.
To learn more about Pearlita’s products and sign up for tasting opportunities please view their website at: https://www.pearlitafoods.com/first-prototype.
Management Commentary
“We are impressed by and proud of Pearlita’s successful production of its first cultivated oyster prototype. Pearlita’s commitment to making the world a better place and doing its part to increasing the world’s food security is encouraging as we possess the same goals,” said Lejjy Gafour, Chief Executive Officer of CULT. “Pearlita is taking great steps to advance the production of cultured seafood on a mass scale. We are energized by the positive contributions that their team is making to the cellular agriculture industry,” added Mr. Gafour.
About CULT Food Science
CULT Food Science Corp. is an innovative investment platform with an exclusive focus on cellular agriculture that is advancing the development of novel technologies to provide a sustainable, environmental, and ethical solution to the global factory farming crisis. The first-of-its-kind in North America, CULT Food Science aims to provide individual investors with unprecedented exposure to the most innovative start-up, private or early-stage cultivated meat, cell-based dairy and other cultured food companies around the world.
Additional information can be found by viewing the Company’s website at www.cultfoodscience.com or its regulatory filings on www.sedar.com.
