Ep. 32: From ConAgra to Culturing Fish Cells

You've likely heard the story about the Jew who was said to have taken a small amount of fish and multiplied it to feed thousands. Well, in 2020, there's another innovative Jew, Lou Cooperhouse, who is literally multiplying the fish—or at least their cells—in the hopes of again feeding the masses, and saving our planet at the same time.

Lou's company, BlueNalu, has raised millions of dollars to culture fish cells into real fish meat that looks and performs just like conventional fish, but without the mercury, microplastics, nor oceanic exploitation.

Perhaps most interesting about Lou is that unlike many other cultivated meat startup founders, Lou doesn't come from a background of animal or environmental advocacy. Indeed, as you'll hear in this interview, Lou worked for decades in the conventional food industry, including making chicken nuggets for ConAgra, before deciding to change course and start making meat without animals.

We taped this show at BlueNalu's HQ in San Diego just a short distance away from the Pacific ocean, right before the company revealed its latest offerings: whole muscle meat yellowtail that it grew without the fish—and how impressive it was.

Will BlueNalu's work help make an ocean trawler seem as archaic to future generations as whaling ships seem to us today? Find out in this 32nd episode of Business for Good!