Company adds six new hires to assist with increased production capacity and growing commercial interest in food applications for its algae protein ingredient.
San Diego-based future food company Triton Algae Innovations is continuing to make strides in the alternative foods space. The company, which produces a highly nutritious and sustainable form of protein-rich algae via a proprietary fermentation process, has scaled up its hiring, adding six new team members in the last two months despite the economic and practical challenges presented by the COVID pandemic. Triton is focused on bringing to market an entirely new variety of healthy food products derived from its non-GM algae.
These hires come on the heels of an impressive run of scientific advances and regulatory milestones. In 2019 Triton Algae Innovations received a coveted “no questions” letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) stating that Triton’s algae ingredient Chlamydomonas reinhardtii (C. reinhardtii) is Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) for its intended uses in food. Subsequently, the top food regulatory entity in Singapore (the Singapore Food Agency, or SFA) issued a similar finding, which authorized the use of Triton’s highly nutritious, non-GMO dried algae ingredient in consumer food products in that country, extending Triton’s global market reach.
Given increasing market interest in its products, both as a source of alternative protein and as a key ingredient in meat analogues, Triton has also moved into a larger lab space, which will enable it to expand its own fermentation production capability to semi-commercial levels, and to grow its R&D and food science capabilities with these new hires.
“We are proud of what we’ve been able to achieve during these challenging times of navigating through a pandemic,” said Miller Tran, Triton’s VP of R&D. “Being able to keep all our employees on payroll, while actually growing our team is a testament to the strategic pathway we laid out pre-COVID, and we feel fortunate to have been able to execute through all this uncertainty while adding top-talent and keeping our eyes on the long game.”
SUSIE KAHN, FOOD SCIENTIST “Being a food scientist at Triton means believing in a future where the food supply is delicious, wholesome and sustainable. Algae holds exceptional potential for the rapid development of unique and useful new food materials. Through advances in algae technology, Triton can help to reinvent our global food systems to make them more efficient, ethical, and accessible to everyone.”
TRAVIS MUFF, SENIOR SCIENTIST “Triton gives me the opportunity to apply my knowledge and experience to a rapidly developing and expanding industry.”
DEBORAH MUN, ASSOCIATE FERMENTATION SCIENTIST “I am thankful to be working with a team of innovative and inspired individuals working towards creating new plant-based food products. Triton offers me the opportunity to use my process development skills to contribute to environmental sustainability.”
MIA WOLGAST, FOOD SCIENCE ASSOCIATE “Doing good and sending positive energy into the world is what gets me out of bed and motivated each morning. Lucky for me, Triton gives me the opportunity to do just that by contributing to more sustainable practices, healthier eating, and further innovation in the future food space. Knowing that we’re doing positive things for the world gives me a sense of pride and fulfillment at the end of each day.”
KIMBERLY CHEN, ASSOCIATE SCIENTIST “Eating plant-based diet is one effective way we can contribute to environmental sustainability. I am excited about the opportunity Triton offers me to contribute my academic skills and experience in the plant-based food industry. With passionate, hard-working individuals at Triton, I feel motivated going to work everyday to help develop a nutritious, sustainable food system.”
KANAS HUYNH, RESEARCH INTERN “I see being part of the Triton Algae team as a place where I can grow as not only a scientist but as a person. I am grateful and excited every time I come to work because I get to see and learn new things about the rapid development of food sustainability, while simultaneously gaining the worthwhile experiences in a laboratory.”