To do this, the Berlin-based company starts with a single “one-time” fish biopsy (the fish doesn’t have to be killed for this), and then uses stem cell technology to develop full cell lines (fish species) in a lab setting.

Primary products of the company are fish sticks and fish balls, which are made from cultivated fish cells and “enriched” with plant proteins, a process designed to optimize how they cook and how they feel in the mouth. Sustainability lies in what is known as “immortalized” cells, so that once it has created its initial biomass using cells from a real fish, everything from that point on is self-sufficient. As an example, while ‘normal’ cells double for, let’s say, 20 times and then stop, the immortalized cells keep on doubling, theoretically forever.

Singapore is the first port-of-call for the German company. The next step will involve seeking approval in the U.S., European Union (EU), and United Kingdom. It will probably be 2025 when we can expect to see lab-grown fish balls on supermarket shelves. Besides Bluu Seafood, several other companies worldwide (Finless, BlueNalu, Wildtype, Steakholder Foods, etc) are currently in the process of developing lab-grown seafood.