Friends & Family Pet Food Co. to Debut Cultivated Fish Treats for Cats with Umami Bioworks

Friends & Family Pet Food Co. has partnered with cultivated seafood company Umami Bioworks to roll out treats and supplements for cats.

It’s a big week for cultivated pet food.

On Wednesday, London-based startup Meatly announced it had received regulatory approval to sell its cultivated chicken for pets in the UK, the first company to receive the greenlight anywhere in Europe.

The same day, in the US, a new alternative protein brand for cats and dogs has come on the horizon, and is hoping to bring cultivated seafood for pets to market next year.

San Francisco’s Friends & Family Pet Food Co. has partnered with Singaporean cultivated seafood producer Umami Bioworks to launch cat treats in both geographies by early 2025.

Part of ProVeg International’s 12th incubator, the pet food startup is the brainchild of CEO Joshua Errett – former VP at Cult Food Science – pet industry veteran COO Jonny Cruz, and veterinarian and chief science officer Sarah Dodd.

“Friends & Family is a brand for cultivated meat and fish, precision fermentation and any sustainable ingredient that can replace animal proteins,” says Errett, who is also the former co-founder of cultivated pet food startup BioCraft Pet Nutrition (previously Because Animals).

“We partner with top-tier startups and scientists making animal-free ingredients, and give them a path to market using our proprietary pet food platform,” he adds. “Umami Bioworks is our first and most important partnership, and we have some other big names in the pipeline.”

He continues: “My team and I have each been in the pet food space for a decade or more, so we have manufacturing, distribution and retail relationships in place. We have plans for treats, supplements and complete and balanced foods for both dogs and cats.”

“I have perhaps a childlike view that there are only two kinds of animals. Friends – wolves, sea bass, porcupines, pigs, giraffes, squirrels, and all the other wild and farmed animals – and family – the beloved animals that live with me, my cats,” Errett explains. “I want them both to live to their full potential. That’s the entire point of our company.”

Cultivated cat treats to contain white fish

The cat treats will be packaged as bars and in bags, and contain a white fish blend “similar to the fish meal that’s in commercial caught-fish pet foods today”, according to Errett.

“We are developing two white fish species,” says Mihir Pershad, founder and CEO of Umami Bioworks, which recently merged with fellow Singaporean cultivated seafood player Shiok Meats.

“Both species have strong existing consumer awareness and market appeal. The rest of the formulation is a proprietary blend developed by Josh and his team to deliver excellent nutrition, health, and flavour.”

Errett says Friends & Family prefers minimally processed foods. “A huge problem in pet food, from my personal perspective, is high-heat extrusion, which produces kibble,” he notes. “For nutritional reasons, I don’t believe it should be a cat or dog’s everyday diet. So we will avoid that.”

Umami Bioworks, which recently established partnerships in India too, is currently scaling up its cultivated fish production in Malaysia, and establishing a pilot line at another site. “Our capacity is in the tens of kgs, but we are rapidly working towards ton-scale capacity for our pilot line,” says Pershad.

Friends & Family, which is now raising capital, enters a market that has seen major advancements recently. Both Meatly and BioCraft Pet Nutrition have slashed the costs of their innovations by reimagining culture media.

Czech startup Bene Meat Technologies, meanwhile, was the first cultivated meat startup to be listed on the EU’s feed register (which is different from regulatory approval for consumption), and showcased its product at the Interzoo trade fair in Nuremberg in May.

Regulatory clearance expected by end of 2024

Like most pet food, these cat treats won’t be 100% cultivated meat, instead being combined with plant-based ingredients and high-value microalgae. They’re said to contain all essential nutrients. “Few, if any, pet food companies will reveal how much meat is in their products. I think most consumers would be shocked at the actual meat inclusion in commercial pet food,” claims Errett.

“We’re building in public and transparency is a pillar for us, so I don’t mind saying we’re aiming for 25-30% cultivated fish inclusion. On the launch of this treat, it will be up to 10%, depending on regulations we’re working through.”

Speaking of which, Errett and Parshad both confirm that the startups are in talks with regulators in both the US and Singapore, which were – before this year – the only two countries where cultivated meat was cleared for sale.

“Both Umami and Friends & Family are working hard to secure our first approval before the end of 2024,” says Pershad. “Given the advanced stage of our discussions and our dossier preparation, we are confident in our Q1 2025 timeline for launch.”

Errett adds: We’ll have production spaces in both the US and southeast Asia, to service the San Francisco Bay Area and Singapore. Our capacity will be limited at launch, much like other cultivated meat production. We’ll be able to feed a lot of pets in our limited markets at launch, and then scale over time.”

An ‘antidote for the slowdown in alternative proteins’

Errett has been in the alternative protein industry for a while. In 2016, he co-founded BioCraft Pet Nutrition with CEO Shannon Falconer. Then, he founded vegan dog treats brand Noochies, which was acquired by Cult Food Science, where he served as a VP until December 2023.

“Obviously, I’m a big believer in that brand,” Errett says of Noochies. “I’m still on all the Noochies packaging and site as its founder, and I consult with Cult weekly on pet food matters. But I am not involved with the day-to-day operations, or in any other way.”

Asked why he left Cult, he explains: “I am an entrepreneur at heart. I learned that over years [of] working in banking, government and venture capital – and over a few different startups in the pet space. I’ve worked with my co-founders Jonny Cruz and Dr Sarah Dodd for years, formulating successful products together over a couple [of] different companies now. So it made sense that we start our own venture.”

When Errett was at Cult Food Science, the company had partnered with Umami Bioworks to co-launch Marina Cat, a cultivated cat food brand. Friends & Family is a separate entity, and Errett confirms he is no longer involved in Marina Cat.

“Our solution will be, I think, the antidote for the slowdown in alternative proteins – we take cultivated and precision fermentation ingredients out of the lab and make commercially viable, profitable products for today’s pet food market,” he explains. “Our partners can get early revenue and product-market fit as they scale to become world-changing ingredient companies. The motto is [to] get to the consumer as fast as possible.”