Tsunan Sake Brewery Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Tsunan Town, Nakauonuma District, Niigata Prefecture; President & CEO: Kengo Suzuki; hereinafter “Tsunan Sake Brewery”) is pleased to announce that it has entered into a joint research and development agreement with Integriculture Inc. (Headquarters: Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo; President & CEO: Yuuki Hanyu; hereinafter “Integriculture”), a company dedicated to the social implementation of cellular agriculture technologies.
Through this partnership, the two companies aim to prototype and evaluate cell-cultured foods and cosmetic ingredients by combining the abundant natural water resources of the Tsunan region in Niigata—long utilized by Tsunan Sake Brewery—with Integriculture’s proprietary cellular agriculture technologies.
Through this initiative, Tsunan Sake Brewery will support Integriculture’s vision of socially implementing cellular agriculture in a distributed, locally rooted manner, by demonstrating a “regional co-creation model” centered on a traditional sake brewery as a production and innovation hub.
Background and Objectives of the Partnership
Against the backdrop of global population growth and increasing environmental challenges, expectations for cell-cultured foods as a sustainable protein source are rapidly rising. Integriculture has been advancing technology development aimed at dramatically reducing costs and enabling large-scale production through its proprietary cellular agriculture platform.
Tsunan Sake Brewery, meanwhile, has long engaged in traditional sake brewing using pristine natural water and sake rice nurtured by the rich environment of Tsunan Town, Niigata. At the same time, the company holds a strong commitment to creating new value from these regional assets and contributing to local revitalization. In addition to promoting “smart brewing” through the use of AI and IoT, Tsunan Sake Brewery has also been developing upcycling projects that transform by-products such as sake lees into new products, thereby working toward a sustainable, circular production model.
This collaboration was born from the convergence of Integriculture’s cellular agriculture technology—which holds strong potential for local and decentralized deployment—and Tsunan Sake Brewery’s long-protected regional resource: water. Recognizing their shared vision for the future, the two companies decided to launch this joint development initiative.
Notably, this partnership represents Integriculture’s first regional collaboration aimed at expanding cellular agriculture technologies across Japan. By integrating the existing assets of a sake brewery—water, fermentation expertise, and tradition—with cutting-edge cellular agriculture, the initiative seeks to create new industries rooted in local communities.
Future Outlook: Transforming Sake Breweries into “Microbrewery-Style” Production Hubs
As part of this joint research, the two companies will first conduct quality evaluations of cell culture samples using Tsunan’s natural water. Looking ahead, they aim to install Integriculture’s cultivation equipment within Tsunan Sake Brewery itself, with the goal of realizing a “microbrewery-style” cellular agriculture production hub, enabling small-scale, locally distributed production.
Comment from Yuuki Hanyu, President & CEO, Integriculture Inc.
“We are truly delighted to take this important first step toward the future together with the historic Tsunan Sake Brewery. We are confident that combining the invaluable resource of ‘water,’ carefully preserved by Tsunan Sake Brewery, with our cellular agriculture technology will generate entirely new value.
This partnership is our most important first example in expanding cellular agriculture nationwide as a ‘regional co-creation model.’ Together with Mr. Suzuki, we will bring the vision of a ‘microbrewery-style production hub’ starting here in Tsunan to life, contributing to a sustainable food future and regional revitalization.”
Comment from Kengo Suzuki, President & CEO, Tsunan Sake Brewery Co., Ltd.
“Like many regional sake breweries, we have felt a strong sense of urgency that preserving tradition alone is not enough to secure our future. In that context, we learned that Integriculture’s cellular agriculture technology has the potential to be deployed locally, rather than being centralized.
To embody our concept of ‘Brew for Future – Brewing a Co-Creative Future,’ we aim to combine Integriculture’s technology with our regional resources and realize a ‘microbrewery-style production hub’ here in Tsunan. We are committed to advancing this regional co-creation model so that it becomes a meaningful reference case for communities across Japan.”
About Integriculture Inc.
- Company Name: Integriculture Inc.
- Representative: Yuuki Hanyu, President & CEO
- Address: Meiwa Hongo Building 7F, 4-1-3 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan
- Website: https://integriculture.com/
About Tsunan Sake Brewery Co., Ltd.
- Company Name: Tsunan Sake Brewery Co., Ltd.
- Representative: Kengo Suzuki, President & CEO
- Address: 7141 Akinari, Tsunan Town, Nakauonuma District, Niigata, Japan
- Website: https://tsunan-sake.com/
