Patent-pending co-fermentation technology that mimics nature to create natural, delicious and nutritious vegan seafood products.

Project Information

Koralo Vegan Seafood

Grant agreement ID: 101114109

DOI

10.3030/101114109

Project closed

EC signature date 31 July 2023

Start date 1 August 2023

End date 31 July 2024

Funded under

• European innovation ecosystems

Total cost

No data

EU contribution

€ 75 000,00

Coordinated by

KORALO GMBH
Germany

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - Koralo Vegan Seafood (Patent-pending co-fermentation technology that mimics nature to create natural, delicious and nutritious vegan seafood products.)

Reporting period: 2023-08-01 to 2024-07-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Koralo is the first company worldwide using its patented co-fermentation technology of microalgae and mushroom roots to create whole-cut seafood. Mimicking oceans Koralo creates wellness food enriching health and beauty with New F!sh.

The goal of this project from August 2023 - August 2024 was to launch Koralo's products in the Korean market. This meant advancing both the R&D of the product as well as manufacturing and being able to legally sell the products whilst meeting consumer expectations. With Korea having the highest per capita seafood consumptions and consumers being highly quality driven the product needed to be highly localized and marketing also required adjustment to be able to suit consumer needs.
Achieving a sustainable, local production in Korea was also a great feat due to cultural and language barriers as well as technological differences in equipment standards. The process to industrial scale needed to be adjusted and proven to work on standardized equipment which was ultimately achieved during this project.
The team also launched the product in pilot restaurants and secured large partners in Korea who were pivotal in localizing and advancing both the product quality as well as the distribution pipeline and securing legal documents for food manufacturing and distribution. Furthermore, whilst having Korea as a test market the goal was also to advance launching in Europe. The team successfully submitted the Novel Food Dossier to EFSA with all regulatory tests coming back as safe to consume with no concerns.

Overall, Koralo could prove through the support of this project how to leverage as an early stage start-up a technology developed in Europe globally through an adapted local launch, while building marketing and technological know-how benefitting regional roll-out in EU.

This project led by Sina Albanese one of the co-founders of Koralo has been a great test of agility, resilience and cross-cultural and global innovation with some great learnings and successes.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Objective:
Successfully prepare the optimization and production of Koralo’s seafood products for launch into the Korean and European markets together with partners.

Work performed & main achievements:
Optimized products to Korean taste and texture developed at Technical University Munich Venturelabs by Koralo R&D technology team together with a Korean testing panel that was set up.
Consumer & chef tests conducted in Korea led by Sina Albanese in collaboration with local chef and restaurant – promotional material and information collected will be processed by Koralo’s marketing and sales team.
Korean partner network of distributors, restaurants, and food manufacturers set up during the course of the project with success.
Production partner in Korea to produce products from Q3 2023 onwards identified in the course of the project with production trialed and improved to full-scale industrial production with food safety system.
Korean production organized, set up and adjusted to fit process at product manufacturer previously identified to prepare for local production of products with setting up local regulatory requirements for launch
Korean local production started at partner production facility.
Launch products assembled with packaging and labelling in Korea coordinated by Sina Albanese and Koralo’s marketing & sales team and the partners previously acquired.

Submitting of EFSA (European novel food notification) completed after conducting necessary tests through external parties.
Partner network of restaurants, distributors, and food manufacturers in Europe established during the course of the project.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

Koralo is one of the few foreign startups that have successfully established in Korea and paves the way for international collaborations between EU and Korea. As consumer purchasing motivations are very different in Korea versus Europe it has enabled Koralo to adjust and pivot its product proposition to be able to meet diverse demands across global markets. Further, to enable larger consumer traction the European Union must accept Koralo’s Novel Food dossier to be able to launch the products in Europe. As Korea has very strict food standards and the product is permitted for food consumption it seems unreasonable why the European Union does not take this into account in their evaluation accelerating the acceptance.
This project has achieved a diverse range of results and provides not only Koralo but also the Korean and European governmental bodies and innovation ecosystems a new perspective on establishing cross continental innovation and startup collaborations like in the Horizon 2025 program planned.

Koralo's New F sh filet being cooked by a Korean chef