Israeli Startup to Produce Kabayaki Grilled Eel ‘Meat’ in Japan Using Its Cell-Cultivation Technology

The Yomiuri Shimbun

1:00 JST, September 6, 2025

An Israeli startup plans to produce kabayaki grilled eel in Kyoto Prefecture using its cell-cultivation technology.

The company Forsea Foods Ltd., which was established in October 2021, plans to build a plant to produce kabayaki – eel grilled in a shoyu-based sauce.

Forsea Foods’ technology will utilize eel stem cells to grow muscle and fat cells. The cells will be combined with plant-based materials and shaped to resemble eel “meat,” which will then be served as kabayaki.

The company aims to develop the technology further to mass-produce the product and hopes to begin selling it in 2027.

People in Israel do not normally eat eel. However, the company began developing it because of the growing size of the global eel market.

As restrictions on cultivated meat have not been established in Japan, the company intends to initially sell the products in Singapore.

“Eel supplies rely on the quantity of glass eels [juvenile eels], and its possible that the [quantity] will be heavily impacted by climate change from now on,” said Mayu Sugisaki, who is in charge of business development in the Asia-Pacific region for the company.

“Also, to be able to continue eating eel, it is important that the option of eating cultivated meat exists,” Sugisaki added.