RCS - Agronomics Limited - Portfolio Company Update: BlueNalu

AgronomicsAnnouncement

27/01/2022 08:00

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RNS Number : 8299Z  Agronomics Limited  27 January 2022

27 January 2022

 

Agronomics Limited (https://agronomics.im/)

("Agronomics" or the "Company")

 

Portfolio Company, BlueNalu, Announces Partnership with FOOD & LIFE
COMPANIES, the Largest Sushi Restaurant Operator in Japan

 

Agronomics Limited (AIM:ANIC), a leading listed company focused on cellular
agriculture, is pleased to announce portfolio company BlueNalu,
Inc. ("BlueNalu") has agreed a partnership with FOOD & LIFE COMPANIES Ltd
("FOOD & LIFE COMPANIES"), to supply leading sushi brands such as Sushiro
and Kyotaru with BlueNalu's lead product, cultivated bluefin tuna.

 

Agronomics currently holds both shares and a Convertible Promissory Note in
BlueNalu which would, in aggregate, represent an equity interest of circa
5.85% on a fully diluted basis and be valued, subject to audit, at
approximately £13.4 million (see announcement of 20 January 2021 for more
details on the basis of this calculation). The BlueNalu position represents
roughly 4.8% portfolio weighting to Net Asset Value.

 

The full announcement is set out below with no material changes or
adjustments:

 

SAN DIEGO, Calif., January 25th, 2022 / Osaka, Japan, January 26th, 2022 --
BlueNalu, a leading innovative food company developing a variety of seafood
products directly from fish cells, announced today a collaboration with
leading, multinational sushi restaurant operator, FOOD & LIFE COMPANIES
Ltd. (TYO: 3563) (https://www.food-and-life.co.jp/) . As a Japanese
foodservice leader, FOOD & LIFE COMPANIES (F&LC) operates brands
such as Sushiro and Kyotaru and over 1,000 restaurants across Japan, Korea,
Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand and Mainland China.

The agreement focuses on developing a supply-chain solution for bluefin tuna
and other sushi-grade products for the multinational sushi restaurant operator
in the Asia-Pacific region, where seafood consumption is highest. The
companies plan to collaborate on product development and marketing as well as
support of a regulatory framework to accelerate BlueNalu's commercialization
in Japan.

BlueNalu and F&LC will focus on the belly portion of bluefin tuna,
called toro, as an initial commercial product. Bluefin tuna is a prized
species in Japan, where an estimated 80% of the global supply is consumed, and
commands premium pricing for its delicious flavor and unique sensory
characteristics.

"FOOD & LIFE COMPANIES is a global leader in the sushi restaurant
business, and BlueNalu is thrilled to partner with their team to continue the
innovative legacy of their iconic brands," said Lou Cooperhouse, president
& CEO of BlueNalu. "Cell-cultured seafood is a supply-chain solution that
will have the taste, texture and nutrition that consumers expect, and will not
be susceptible to environmental contaminants like mercury and microplastics.
By centering our initial efforts on the high-quality toro portion of bluefin
tuna, we aim to demonstrate culinary excellence with the most prized portion
of the most sought-after fish in the most iconic marketplace for seafood."

"With the uncertainty of natural marine resources in the future, it is
important that we secure a stable supply of seafood in a more sustainable
manner," said Koichi Mizutome, president and CEO of FOOD & LIFE COMPANIES.
"We have already been promoting the use of farmed seafood as one of the ways
to achieve this, but as seafood demand increases in the future, there will be
increasing challenges with our global supply chain. Therefore, we are eager to
incorporate BlueNalu's cell-cultured seafood as we believe it is one of the
most promising methods to help solve these issues. We look forward to the
progress of this collaboration, and to the future when BlueNalu products can
be used as sustainable, delicious, healthy, and reliable seafood on our
menus."

Global seafood consumption is at an all-time high and continues to increase,
particularly in Asia. The United Nations projects global population and
consumption growth will require 28 million metric tons of new seafood
production by 2030 (https://www.fao.org/3/ca9229en/ca9229en.pdf) . In addition
to wild-caught and farm-raised seafood, cell-cultured seafood is seen as a
third production method that can help meet that demand.

This announcement with F&LC follows additional collaborations announced
earlier by BlueNalu, including agreements with Pulmuone Co. Ltd. in South
Korea, Sumitomo Corporation and Mitsubishi Corporation in Japan, Thai Union in
Thailand and Nomad Foods in Europe. BlueNalu's business strategy is to partner
with leading multinational companies on market research, regulatory affairs,
product design and development, manufacturing, marketing, sales and
distribution, with an aim to efficiently and effectively bring BlueNalu's
branded cell-cultured seafood products to consumers worldwide.

 

About BlueNalu (http://www.bluenalu.com)
BlueNalu's mission is to develop great-tasting, healthy, safe and trusted
cell-cultured seafood products that support the sustainability and diversity
of our ocean. BlueNalu is aligned with the United Nations' Sustainable
Development Goals, a blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future
for our planet. BlueNalu began its operations in 2018 and is based in San
Diego, California.

 

About FOOD & LIFE COMPANIES (http://www.food-and-life.co.jp/en/)
FOOD & LIFE COMPANIES (F&LC) operates restaurant brands such as
Sushiro and Kyotaru and is aiming to realize the vision of "Discovering new
tastiness, Sharing moments of joy" together with our "COMPANIES" - the various
multinational brands in our group. As a Japanese foodservice leader, F&LC
operates over 1,000 restaurants across Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong,
Singapore, Thailand, and Mainland China. In order to deliver safe and
delicious food to our customers, we have a responsibility to achieve a
sustainable food supply that will last into the future.

 

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements including, but not
limited to, statements related to the development and commercialization of
BlueNalu's products in collaboration with F&LC, the potential launching of
BlueNalu's products in F&LC , and the type and characteristics of products
that BlueNalu will produce in collaboration with F&LC. These
forward-looking statements are based on BlueNalu's and F&LC's current
expectations and inherently involve significant risks and uncertainties.
BlueNalu and F&LC undertake no duty or obligation to update any
forward-looking statements contained in this press release as a result of new
information. The impact of this agreement on the consolidated business
performance of F&LC is expected to be insignificant.

 

About Agronomics (https://agronomics.im/)

Agronomics is a leading listed alternative proteins company with a focus on
cellular agriculture and cultivated meat. The Company has established a
portfolio of 18 companies at the Pre-Seed to Series C stage in this rapidly
advancing sector. It seeks to secure minority stakes in companies owning
technologies with defensible intellectual property that offer new ways of
producing food and materials with a focus on products historically derived
from animals. These technologies are driving a major disruption in
agriculture, offering solutions to improve sustainability, as well as
addressing human health, animal welfare and environmental damage. This
disruption will decouple supply chains from the environment and animals, as
well as being fundamental to feeding the world's expanding population. A full
list of Agronomics' portfolio companies is available
at https://agronomics.im/
(https://clicktime.symantec.com/368cVqxx3R6vTFuHpf6MSE66Gi?u=https%3A%2F%2Fagronomics.im%2F)
.

 

About Cellular Agriculture

Cellular Agriculture is the production of agriculture products directly from
cells, as opposed to raising an animal for slaughter, or growing crops. This
encompasses cell culture to produce cultivated meat and materials, and
fermentation processes that harness a combination of molecular biology,
synthetic biology, tissue engineering and biotechnology to massively simplify
production methods in a sustainable manner.

Over the coming decades, the source of the world's food supply traditionally
derived from conventional agriculture is going to change dramatically. We have
already witnessed the first wave of this shift with the consumer adoption of
plant-based alternative proteins but today, we are on the cusp of an even
bigger wave of change. This is being facilitated by advances in cellular
agriculture. This change is necessary, given scientists claims that if we
maintain existing animal protein consumption patterns, then we will not meet
the Paris Agreement's goal of limiting warming to 1.5℃

AT Kearney, a global consultancy firm, projects that cultivated meat's market
share will reach 35% by 2040. This combined with the Good Food
Institute's estimate that a US $1.8 trillion investment will be required in
order to produce just 10% of the world's protein using this technology, means
that we are on the cusp of a multi-decade flow of capital to build out
manufacturing facilities. Funding in the field of cellular agriculture is
accelerating, however still less than US$ 1 billion has been invested
worldwide since the industry's inception in 2016.

 

For further information please contact:

 

 Agronomics                                       Beaumont              Cenkos                Peterhouse Capital

 Limited                                          Cornish Limited       Securities Plc        Limited               TB Cardew
 The Company                                      Nomad                 Joint Broker          Joint Broker          Public Relations
 Richard Reed                                     Roland Cornish        Giles Balleny         Lucy Williams         Ed Orlebar

 Denham Eke                                       James Biddle          Michael Johnson       Charles Goodfellow    Joe McGregor
 +44 (0) 1624 639396                              +44 (0) 207 628 3396  +44 (0) 207 397 8900  +44 (0) 207 469 0936  +44 (0) 20 7930 0777

 info@agronomics.im (mailto:info@agronomics.im)                                                                     +44 (0) 7738 724 630

                                                                                                                    agronomics@tbcardew.com (mailto:agronomics@tbcardew.com)

 

 

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