Cellular Aquaculture Company BlueNalu Expands Team
New Hires Will Focus on Corporate Development, Strategic Partnerships and Culinary Expertise in Cell-Based Seafood

September 24, 2019—San Diego, Calif.  BlueNalu, a leading innovative food company developing seafood directly from fish cells, announced today two additions to its team. Greg Murphy, an internationally recognized leader in sustainable ocean-related industries has joined the leadership team as Director of Corporate Development and Strategic Partnerships, and Gerard Viverito, a certified executive chef, restaurant owner, and seafood instructor at The Culinary Institute of America, as Corporate Chef and culinary advisor for BlueNalu, effective immediately.

Murphy and Viverito join a fast-growing team of experts with experience in a broad array of disciplines that will be required for the company’s success, including food innovation, technology commercialization, cell biology, tissue engineering, intellectual property, large-scale manufacturing, product safety, consumer marketing, and a strong commitment to sustainable development.

Lou Cooperhouse, Co-Founder, President & CEO of BlueNalu, welcomed Murphy and Viverito. “Greg and Gerard bring a wealth of experience and expertise to BlueNalu that is  vital for our success, and their addition furthers our drive towards becoming the global leader in cell-based seafood. Gerard will support our efforts at BlueNalu to ensure that our seafood products provide consumers with the sensory experiences that they expect including flavor, texture, and the ability to be prepared in a wide array of applications in foodservice and retail formats. Greg will secure relationships with partners that have been successful in this industry and have the same vision of sustainable global food security as we have.” 

Greg Murphy has promoted sustainable ocean solutions for almost a decade with experience in policy at the local, state and national level, and with industry as a former Executive Director of The Maritime Alliance, a leading non-profit industry cluster for sustainable ocean technology companies in San Diego County, where he helped manage the cluster, promoted international trade and exports, launched the BlueTech Incubator, and fostered an ecosystem of collaboration internationally. Most recently, Murphy consulted organizations through his firm, Blue Economy Strategies, and advised elected officials on ocean policy, sustainability, and industry. 

“When it comes to the ocean, our action or inaction will define the future of humanity,” Murphy said. “I’m excited to join BlueNalu to help bring a global solution for sustainable seafood to market with strategic partners that align with our core mission.”

Chef Viverito has more than 20 years of experience as an executive chef, instructor, restaurant owner, and hospitality educator, and he brings his passion for seafood sustainability and international culinary arts to BlueNalu. As an associate professor at The Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park since 2004, Chef Viverito instructs the next generation of forward-thinking chefs and focuses on sustainable seafood curriculum.

“Cell-based seafood has tremendous implications for the future of the planet,” said Viverito. “As a chef committed to sustainable seafood, I’m excited to have the opportunity to work with seafood that contains no mercury, bones, shells, microplastics, or other contaminants and am very much looking forward to this relationship.” 

BlueNalu raised $4.5 million during its seed round of financing in 2018, has developed the methods to produce seafood directly from real fish cells, and has announced a five-phase commercialization strategy to scale up cell-based seafood production in the next five years.  

For more information about BlueNalu, visitbluenalu.com.

About BlueNalu
BlueNalu's mission is to be the global leader in cellular aquaculture, providing consumers with great tasting, healthy, safe and trusted seafood products that support the sustainability and diversity of our ocean. BlueNalu is aligned with 10 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) of the United Nations, a blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for our planet. BlueNalu was founded in 2018 and is based in San Diego, California.

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