In this interview series, HSWT presents startups that are part of the Food Startup Incubator Weihenstephan (FSIWS) . The series presents the companies, their product ideas and how they work.
From sea to plate – that’s what Koralo Foods . The startup's vision is to make seafood carbon negative and accessible to all so our oceans can thrive. Carbon negative means that net emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases are less than zero. Koralo produces vegan sea food from microalgae and mycelium using a fermentation process.
And Koralo does this nationally and internationally with great success: among other things, the team took first place at the K-Startup Grand Challenge in South Korea and was among the top 10 startups for the FOCUS Innovation Prize . Founder Guido Albanese has more than 25 years of experience in the food industry, where he led and grew both large multinational companies and startups. Founder Sina Albanese is an expert in global project and change management.
FSWIS: Why did you decide to make vegan seafood?
The supply of seafood simply cannot keep up with the growing demand. That's why with Koralo, we enrich the seafood choices we eat by capturing the ocean's nutrients through co-fermentation technology - so people and oceans thrive.
Koralo uses fewer than five ingredients for each product: How is this possible?
We mimic nature with food technology to create the cleanest, most nutritious products. In nature, microalgae are eaten by small fish, which in turn are eaten by larger fish and so on until they end up on our plate. At Koralo we have mimicked this process and replaced the fish with fermentation. The microalgae are used as food for the mycelium – the roots of edible mushrooms – to grow into the food we can harvest. And which we can enjoy like seafood as we know and love it.
You have already been successful in several competitions, including the Freising Innovation Days 2022 . How important is this support for your company?
Competitions like the Freising Innovation Days are incredibly valuable for startups like us because they not only ensure external recognition. They also give us the opportunity to build partnerships with future customers and cooperation partners. We are therefore very grateful when we receive support from such events and organizations.
