US butchery Pat LaFrieda Meat Purveyors has partnered with mycelium meat startup Mush Foods to debut a burger made from the latter’s 50CUT blend of mushroom root and beef.

Months after announcing its move into US foodservice, New York-based startup Mush Foods has teamed up with Pat LaFrieda to launch the 50CUT Burger, which blends mushrooms with beef in equal proportions for a more planet-friendly meat product.

The 6oz patty uses ground beef and a mix of mushrooms like oyster, trumpet, shiitake, and lion’s mane, and marks the first nationally available burger made with Mush Foods’ 50CUT blend. The partnership will allow the brand access to the 1,600-plus restaurant and foodservice customers supplied by Pat LaFrieda – it recently concluded a limited-edition run as part of the Umami Burger at the Citizens Culinary Market in Manhattan.

Raving about the quality of the burger, the meat purveyor’s namesake owner and CEO Pat LaFrieda said he wanted to link up with Mush Foods and develop the LaFrieda 50CUT Burger after tasting the blended meat – 20 years on from buying the first burger machine for his business. “It delivers on every expectation for a delicious burger while adding nutritional value and being gentler to the planet,” he said.

Making beef better across all aspects

The LaFrieda 50CUT Burger delivers on four verticals: sustainability, health, price and flavour. Beef is the highest-emitting food on the planet, so halving the amount used in a burger is always going to help restaurants’ carbon footprint. In fact, a study has shown that replacing half of animal products like meat and dairy with plant-based alternatives can halt deforestation, reduce land use by 31%, and double the climate benefits.

Mush Foods’ mycelium is grown on organic substrates in a circular process that involves using upcycled food waste from agricultural sidestreams. The controlled, flightless environment means its solid-state fermentation tech can enable mushroom roots to grow above ground in just eight days – for context, it takes at least a year to farm cows for meat, and about four months to grow soybeans. This means higher yields in smaller timeframes, with the added benefit of working with local mushroom farmers from New York.

The blended meat product also enhances the nutritional value of burgers – apart from providing the complete protein profile (with all essential amino acids) and being rich in potassium, iron and calcium, it’s a source of the dietary fibres (including beta-glucan) that are missing in conventional beef. Plus, it’s clean-label too, with no additives, seasonings, binders and preservatives.

For most restauranteurs and diners, flavour is key to making food choices. Using mushrooms allows 50CUT to provide an umami boost to the burger, addressing a key culinary need. The blended meat also retains the flavour and mouthfeel of conventional meat. That has impressed LaFrieda, who said: “There is an art to a great burger, and the LaFrieda 50CUT is going to amaze burger lovers.”

But it’s not just him – at a tasting of the burger at New York City’s Bar Boulud last month, chef Franklin Becker noted: “If I was eating it blind I’d think it was all beef.” This was reported by New York Times food critic Florence Fabricant, who herself said: “The burger was juicy, and smelled and tasted beefy; it was a fine burger.”

Arguably the most impressive part, though, is the cost, with 50CUT priced cheaper than 100% animal meat. “Not only is there a positive outcome for the environment and for the consumer in terms of flavour, but the price per pound to our customers is less expensive than meat,” Mush Foods co-founder and CEO Shalom Daniel told Green Queen earlier this year.

“We already know that you can have a phenomenal product from an environmental standpoint but if the economics don’t work, it will not thrive. We believe this is a game-changer for the industry,” he added.

Partnering with industry leaders could unlock blended meat’s potential

Fresh from a $6.2M seed funding round last year, Mush Foods is looking to expand its US footprint after debuting its ‘meat-plus’ range in Israel, where it was founded. It will do so with its entire range of 50CUT, which doesn’t just include beef, but also chicken, pork and fish – each is matched with a custom-tailored mycelium mix derived from 14 different species of the fungi.

“The process involves mixing two to three different species of mycelium to produce the exact moisture level, binding ability, taste, colour and texture to complement the unique qualities of each kind of animal protein,” Daniel told me in a wide-ranging interview last year. “Every blend looks and tastes different, as each of the target animal meats has [its] own characteristics.”

This enables the natural flavours of the meat to truly come out, meeting the needs of people who aren’t quite there yet with plant-based meat products. “If we are realistic, it is unlikely that 100% of the global population will become vegan. In some countries, meat will remain a symbol of growing personal wealth, and that won’t change,” noted Daniel. “But we don’t need the entire world to go vegan to have a positive impact on our food supply and environment.”

That philosophy is also being adopted by its competitors in the nascent blended meat space. Los Angeles-based 50/50 Foods is one of them, and has already made its way into Disneyland. Phil’s Finest has been doing well for years, after finding success on Shark Tank (under its former name Misfit Foods). And just this week, Australia’s Harvest B entered the blended meat category with diced beef and lamb for foodservice, with plans to breach the US market next year.

Mush Foods is entirely focused on foodservice too, with no plans for a B2C play. “We cultivate products that the meat and food industries can easily use and blend without having to invest in new capital, change their manufacturing processes, or learn new methods,” Daniel said last year. “We are working efficiently and avoiding expending energy by competing in areas like distribution, retail agreements, branding, etc. Our approach is to collaborate with big players and bring new versions of product favourites to market, or create new blended product lines.”

There aren’t many more suitable people to partner with than LaFrieda, whose butchery has garnered plenty of fans for its premium meats, and industry recognition through partnerships with Minetta Tavern and Shake Shack. Shalom recognises this, saying: “The LaFrieda brand is synonymous with excellence and boasts a legacy of firsts, continually raising the bar and setting the direction for the entire category.”

He added: “Pat LaFrieda is an inspirational innovator and a visionary champion of up-and-coming partners that help expand and develop the meat category. We couldn’t have asked for a more experienced and trusted partner to introduce our first 50CUT collaboration to restaurants, contract foodservice operators and chains nationwide”.

The post The 50CUT Burger: US Butchery Pat LaFrieda Embraces Blended Meat with Mush Foods Partnership appeared first on Green Queen.

Australian alternative protein startup Harvest B is entering the blended meat space with 50/50 slow-cooked beef and lamb SKUs, as it prepares for a US expansion and its Series A funding round.

Known for its range of plant proteins, boosters and meal solutions, Harvest B has launched a new line of Complementary Proteins that blend animal proteins with plant-based ingredients.

The slow-cooked beef and lamb mark the New South Wales-based company’s first foray into blended meat, and come after closing its latest seed funding round, which takes total investment in the company to $4.7M. The diced meat products are geared towards the foodservice industry, and bring several environmental, health and cost advantages over conventional meat, while retaining its flavour and texture.

“As we began supplying our products to customers, we realised many were blending our high-performing proteins with animal proteins purely for cost savings,” Harvest B CEO Kristi Riordan, who co-founded the company with COO Alfred Lo in 2020, tells Green Queen.

“Meanwhile, we learned that another group of customers had been trying to scale plant proteins for sustainability, but were facing consumer acceptability challenges,” she adds. “Unlike the customers led by cost, this cohort was motivated by emission reductions and found that blended solutions offered greater consumer acceptance, while also delivering cost savings and nutritional benefits.”

Cheaper, better for you and less polluting

Blended meat is a nascent market, but is gradually gaining steam. Riordan explains that while plant proteins have been “used for decades” in meat products to reduce costs – McNuggets being a prime example – the current first-generation blended meat products rely on binders or casings in the finished product.

Harvest B’s innovation represents the next generation, with a patent-pending tech that combines different plant protein structures in a unique way to enable the creation of whole pieces like diced beef or lamb with an enhanced texture and without additional ingredients or processing. “Our red meat products are an effective mimic for the structure of slow-cooked beef, lamb or other animal proteins,” says Daniel Mullette, the company’s R&D director.

“This technology underpins Harvest B’s ability to combine whole pieces of raw beef, or lamb, with plant proteins. Furthermore, through the slow cooking process the consistency and texture of the plant proteins complement the animal proteins so well that they are indistinguishable in many dishes,” he adds.

The slow-cooked meats have a 50/50 ratio of beef or lamb with a soy and wheat protein blend, and nothing else, which increases their versatility in foodservice applications. The products absorb what’s called the purge, or the high-protein that’s left behind in meat packaging or the pan. This means less waste, less packaging, and lower transportation costs.

Compared to their conventional counterparts, Harvest B’s blended meats deliver 30% more yield for the same cost, with half the cholesterol, 45% less saturated fat, and 30% less packaging needed. The inclusion of plant proteins also means they have fibre, while retaining their iron and vitamin B12 content. In terms of the climate, the products reduce emissions from animal-derived meats by 46%. And they boast 23-24g of protein per 100g.

Overcoming blended meat’s acceptance challenges

The blended meat category can tend to be a very tricky space. Retailers like Aldi and meat giants such as Tyson Foods have previously brought blends to the market, but they were discontinued quickly after failing to capture consumers’ grocery carts.

Some have blamed Tyson’s marketing for its blended meat debacle. Andrew Arentowicz, founder and CEO of US-based 50/50 Foods, told Green Queen last year: “Tyson’s Raised & Rooted blended burger said they were ‘beef and pea protein isolate’ burgers. Who wants to eat – let alone buy – pea protein isolate?”

Mullette echoes this sentiment: “All food products need to deliver a strong value proposition with marketing that authentically connects that to the consumer.” While taste is “always table stakes with food”, there needs to be more that the consumer cares about and sets the product apart. and it’s not sustainability – which blended meat producers have painted as their primary USP. “Truth be told, mainstream consumers don’t want to sacrifice or pay for sustainability. Many mainstream consumers don’t even want to know that there are plants in their food,” he states.

“Meat-eaters already consume a huge amount of plant protein – most brands just don’t focus on this in their marketing,” says Mullette. Harvest B conducted a recent audit of the Australian market, finding that the actual animal meat content in bestselling retail products “would surprise many consumers”. Chicken tenders, for example, comprise just 38-52% meat, beef burgers 67-85%, meatballs 70-84%; and sausage rolls a meagre 18-25%.

“Harvest B believes that achieving taste, in a familiar format, at a more affordable price with better nutritionals gives a compelling reason to buy. Meanwhile, a more sustainable protein is simply the benefit,” he says. “By working with a wide variety of market segments, we anticipate different approaches to marketing depending on the value proposition important to the brand, or venue.”

Tyson’s blended meat failure also came on the retail shelves, which is why taking the foodservice route makes sense for Harvest B. Riordan believes this is an untapped opportunity, given institutional foodservice often has a regulated requirement for protein, cost-per-serve constraints, and a desire to reduce emissions.

“One of Harvest B’s customers told us that we are the only supplier that can improve nutrition while also reducing costs and emissions,” reveals Riordan. “We are also excited to work closely with executive chefs to strategically build Harvest B’s protein portfolio to address the problems they face on a daily basis.”

Its diced beef and lamb are cooked via sous vide before being frozen, and delivered to chefs who can pan-fry, oven-roast or braise the meats, and use them in dishes like curries, stir-fries, salads and soups, among others. They have a 12-month shelf life too, which will appeal to foodservice settings “where convenience and avoidance of food waste are paramount”.

Blended meat approved by chefs and legacy protein producers

Harvest B’s blended meat products will appeal to the 19% of Australians who identify as flexitarians, according to a YouGov poll last year. A separate study additionally suggested that 32% of the country’s population reduced its meat consumption in 2023. The success of blended meat products will rely upon taste more than anything else, with 59% of meat-eaters and 42% of flexitarians calling this the most influential driver of food choices.

To address that, the startup has developed its blended meat range in partnership with animal protein producers, which will also help bring the products to market globally. “Sensory tests were conducted with internal stakeholders at these partners to ensure we were able to achieve a profile that met the expectations of traditional animal protein consumers,” says Riordan.

She adds that the products can be used in institutional foodservice spanning airlines, education, defence, mining, aged care, and hospital sectors: “We have conducted trials with executive chefs and nutritionists across each of these segments who are excited by the taste and texture, as much as they are by the nutritional benefits we can deliver.”

The concept has been proven elsewhere. 50/50 Foods has landed its half-beef, half-plant Both Burger on a Disneyland menu, while Mush Foods’s 50Cut is featured in leading butchery Pat LaFrieda’s new blended burger for foodservice. And it’s not just blended meat that’s making waves, hybrid meats – which combine cultivated meat with plant-based ingredients – are also appearing on the horizon. San Francisco-based startup SciFi Foods, for instance, is aiming to receive regulatory approval for its hybrid beef burgers and enter foodservice by early 2025.

Cultivated meat was in Australian headlines last week after Vow became just the fourth company in the world to obtain the regulatory greenlight for cultivated meat, rolling out its cultivated quail as part of a parfait in select restaurants in Singapore.

“A complementary system works best when taste and value are beneficial to a customer and consumer – creating a driver for systemic behavioural change which, in turn, drives adoption of sustainable practice,” says Mullette. “This is the intent behind Harvest B’s Complementary Proteins; a similar approach could easily be adopted with complementary food products formed from blending plant-based and cultivated proteins.

“If the flavour, texture and value of protein products can be advanced by blending plant-based with cultivated meats, then an advantageous driver exists for its adoption as part of a complete, nutritious global food system.”

Harvest B plans Series A for US expansion

The progress made by companies like Vow and Harvest B signposts the next phase of growth for Australia’s alternative protein sector, which includes product and tech innovation as much as marketing, says Riordan.

“The category was primarily built by idealists who raised awareness of the emissions problem in our food system. However, this also created a strong division between those who eat meat and those who do not with challenges to drive further mainstream adoption,” she explains, noting how Australia’s national science organisation CSIRO rebranded its research portfolio from ‘alt-protein’ to ‘complementary proteins’ last year. It was “a nod to thinking differently about the product, tech and marketing of our future protein system”.

Harvest B has used the latest capital injection to drive its R&D roadmap further, build its pilot facility, and amp up sales and marketing. “We have received support from the Australian Federal Government via the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre to stand up our manufacturing capabilities,” says Riordan.

The company recently launched its consumer brand, B Strong, into the North American market. The products are focused on meal prep solutions for fitness-oriented consumers, and are available on e-commerce marketplaces like Kroger, Walmart and Amazon.

“B2B remains the immediate focus for Harvest B, particularly in the foodservice and high growth ready meal segments,” Riordan states, revealing that the company will now look to raise a Series A funding round to support its B2B expansion in the US. Slated for the upcoming financial year, the blended meat producer is targeting a sum of around $7M.

But this period will also see substantive Australian federal funding programmes become available to local food manufacturers. Harvest B will tap into these programmes to complement its raise, meaning its Series A sum may not need to be as large.

“We remain bullish about the opportunities the market has to offer,” says Riordan. “Classic innovation theory shows time and again that crossing the chasm from early adopters to the mainstream requires a step change. From a pragmatic view, we need more work on product-market fit and the value propositions of affordability and health – especially for market segments where high protein is required.”

She continues: “We believe that improved sustainability will follow solving those problems. And we believe that plants can enable high quality, affordable protein for meals designed for the way people like to eat – whether vegan, vegetarian or meat eaters.”

The post Exclusive: Australia’s Harvest B Unveils Blended Meat Range Ahead of US Expansion & Series A appeared first on Green Queen.

Marketing expert Irina Gerry argues that while blended meat, could meet niche consumer needs such as upgraded nutrition or improved flavor, it’s not a ‘big’ idea.

This article is part of our content series exploring the world of hybrid and blended meat products – those blending cultivated or conventional proteins with plant-based ingredients, respectively, and why some think this is the future of reducing meat consumption.

The concept of blended meat — combining plant-based ingredients with animal meat — has recently emerged as a solution to the challenges faced by purely plant-based meats. At first glance, it seems like a compelling proposition, promising enhanced taste compared to plant-based meat, reduced environmental impact versus animal-based meat, and potentially better pricing. Recent entrants into this space include brands like 50/50 Foods, Paul’s Table, and Mush Foods. However, does this idea truly address consumer needs, or is it merely an industry-driven solution?

The Best of Both Worlds: Understanding Flexitarians

The rise of flexitarian diets suggests a willingness to embrace both plant-based and animal products. However, this doesn’t automatically translate into a desire for blended products. Products like almond-dairy milk blend by Live Real Farms or mixed chicken and Raised and Rooted blended meat and plant-based protein burgers by Tyson haven’t performed well in the market. 

The reason for this is the lack of a real consumer need. We don’t see consumers mixing almond and dairy milk in the same glass. They likely have both milks in their fridge, but use them for different occasions or different members of the household, based on a specific set of preferences. Similarly, we rarely see anyone blending a Beyond Burger with ground beef to improve the flavor.

Quality Perception of Blended Meat: A Complicated Relationship

The act of blending can create a perception of lesser quality. Meat enthusiasts often view pure meat as a high-quality product. When you start mixing in soy or pea protein, it’s like watering down a fine wine. Remember when rumors of McDonald’s burger patties getting mixed with soy caused a social media outrage? The company now specifically messages that its patties are 100% beef, with no fillers, as proof of quality.

The same goes for plant-based consumers. When they choose to have a plant-based product, they are doing so consciously, and for a variety of reasons such as health, ethics, or the environment. None of these reasons is strengthened by adding animal protein to the mix. So, the blend likely dilutes the value proposition for both camps.

Choice and Control: The Art of Personalization

Most consumers enjoy a mix of plant-based and animal-based foods, but they do so on their own terms. They might choose a purely plant-based dish one day and mix and match both plant and animal foods another day. Some are vegan at home, whilst indulging in a pepperoni pizza on weekends, or they might stretch ground beef with veggies and bread crumbs for cost savings. The key is personalization and control over the mixing and matching based on specific occasions and recipes. It is unlikely for a single product to satisfy such divergent needs, especially if it’s a standard product like a burger patty.

Narrow Appeal: The Challenge of a Niche Market

Given these factors, blended meat risks becoming a niche product category. For meat eaters, adding plant-based elements may seem like a compromise in quality and taste. For plant-based consumers, the introduction of animal ingredients feels counterintuitive. The appeal might be limited to a small segment of flexitarians, driven by a specific need or usage occasion, likely making it a commercial challenge. 

Blending to meet a specific consumer need, such as lower cost or better nutrition, could be a viable idea, but it’s just not a BIG idea. 

So, What’s the Way Forward?

To give blended meat the best chance of success, we need a consumer-centric approach. Here are two potential positioning strategies:

1. Lead with Flavor: People enjoy exploring new flavors. Incorporating caramelized onions and roasted bell peppers on a burger, or adding a portobello mushroom for an umami boost, can enhance the appeal. This approach focuses on exciting flavors rather than compromising taste or nutritional values. Blending animal-based meat with whole plant ingredients that contribute to an intriguing flavor profile has potential, especially if brands lead with a positive taste experience. However, this might result in occasional purchases due to fractionated usage occasions, leading to low turnover.
2. Better Nutrition without Compromise: Many consumers aspire to eat healthier foods. Blended meat products offering additional nutritional benefits, such as more fiber, reduced saturated fat, and fewer calories, could be appealing. However, ensuring that taste is not compromised is crucial. Since most consumers choose animal-based meat for its taste, any compromise on this front could spell trouble. Thus, a strategy that leads with great taste, while delivering improved nutrition as a secondary benefit, might hold more promise.

Solving The Blended Meat Puzzle

Successfully positioning blended meat products requires navigating the complex landscape of consumer preferences, quality perceptions, cultural influences, and dietary choices. While the idea holds potential, its success hinges on more than just merging two types of proteins, as a logical response to current struggles of plant-based meat. It demands a deep understanding of consumer desires and their choices in integrating plant-based and animal-based foods into their diets. Only by tapping into these nuances can blended meat transcend being a fleeting trend and secure a meaningful place in our diverse and dynamic food landscape.

The post Opinion: Why Blended Meat is Not a BIG Idea appeared first on Green Queen.

The Spare Food Co. has introduced Spare Starter, a plant-based “culinary shortcut” made with a blend of upcycled produce and spices that can replace a portion of conventional animal protein in dishes like burgers, meatballs and chillis.

The startup aims to spotlight food waste with a solution that can save months of prep for foodservice kitchens, and tons of produce, water and GHG emissions.

Adam and Jeremy Kaye come from a four-generation legacy of culinary entrepreneurs. So it felt natural that one day, the former (a chef) would join the latter (with stints at Nike, Banana Republic and Patagonia) would join forces to create their own food business. And that’s exactly what they did in 2021 when they founded The Spare Food Co.

The primary aim was to “fix the broken food system”, one that “views overlooked ingredients as food waste, versus what they really are: wasted food”. It is, indeed, a screwed-up sector. In the US, where Spare Food Co.’s home country, 38% of all food went unsold or uneaten last year (i.e., it was surplus), but only a tiny portion was donated to the 13% of Americans who are food insecure, while some was recycled.

Overall, 33% of the country’s food supply went to waste – in landfills, down the drain, or even just in the fields, rotting. This equates to 78 million tons of food, which is enough to feed all of California, New York and Florida for a year, combined. Of all this waste, produce accounted for over a third (34.1%). That’s a lot of fruits and vegetables.

To tackle this issue, the Kayes’ startup’s first launch was a probiotic sparkling tonic made from upcycled whey – now, it’s moving into the plant-based world with Spare Starter, a novel ingredient that makes use of surplus farm produce. “Our aim isn’t merely to add another product to the market,” says Adam. “it’s to introduce a groundbreaking solution environmentally and economically.”

Championing vegetable scraps to cut food waste

Spare Starter is made from six vegetables – utilising parts that are usually trimmed or discarded, including leaves and stalks – and a spice blend. The result is an allergen-, gluten- and fat-free ingredient that has an adaptable flavour profile, which enables chefs to experiment with it in sauces, braises and soups, fillings for tacos and wraps, toppings for noodles and pizza, and even waffle batter, among others.

Akin to an elevated version of mirepoix, it can also be used to replace a portion of protein in plant-based dishes like burgers, meatballs and chillis. I say portion because, by itself, the starter only has 5.7g of protein per 100g, much less than conventional or plant-based meat. But – given the base is just vegetables – there’s 9g of fibre in here, and what it (relatively) lacks in protein, it makes up for in its ability to curb food waste, cut costs, mitigate labour shortages, and save time.

“Spare Starter’s genesis is rooted in my firsthand experience with what is wasted on farms, along with the inefficiencies and waste issues that arise in kitchens,” explains Adam, noting that the new ingredient can optimise “kitchen operations by reducing labour and time”, and promotes a plant-forward diet while significantly cutting food waste.

To quantify these impacts, decarbonisation platform Planet FWD conducted a life-cycle assessment on Spare Starter, from farm to end of life. It revealed that, over a year, swapping 160 lbs of conventional vegetables per week with five pails of the shelf-stable starter (equivalent to about 600 portions) would save 4.5 tons of GHG emissions – that’s like driving from Los Angeles to New York City 4.5 times – and nearly 200,000 gallons of water.

Additionally, kitchens would save over 2,000 hours of manual prep work, while 1,700 lbs of food waste (in the form of trims and scraps) would be salvaged. Overall, it would keep 5,800 lbs of food from being surplus to needs.

Blended meat for college students

The Spare Food Co.’s new ingredient is specifically made for foodservice and catering operators, who can use the ready-to-eat ingredient in multiple ways. Season it and add it to a noodle bowl or a vegan puttanesca sauce. Use it as part of the wet mixture for savoury waffles. Squeeze a little liquid and add it to beef to make a blended burger, or utilise it as a binder for a blended chorizo. These are just the startup’s suggestions, but you get the idea.

One of its early adopters is the Harvest Table Culinary Group, a college caterer that’s expanding its existing partnership with The Spare Food Co. to include the starter across its entire network of campuses, which includes the likes of Brandeis University, the University of Rochester, Wake Forest University, and Elon University.

“From the very beginning, we have had a close collaboration with the culinary leadership at Harvest Table,” says Jeremy. “With our partnership growing, we hope to show the rest of the food industry how Spare Starter offers a tangible solution towards a sustainable and equitable food system and a proactive way to help achieve the sustainability goals of food service operators, their corporate clients, and their diners.”

The company claims that feedback from these institutions, as well as corporate kitchens, has been “overwhelmingly positive”. Matthew Thompson, Harvest Table’s chief culinary officer, says: “Our culinary teams are really pleased with Spare Starter and feel it’s a game-changer, both in addressing the issue of food waste and in streamlining our kitchen processes.”

Planet FWD’s analysis also revealed that a mid-size college campus (between 5000 and 8000 students) could conservatively serve about 3,500 burgers each week with the aforementioned swap. This perhaps underlines why The Spare Food Co.’s next product is, indeed, a blended burger, replacing 30% of the beef with Spare Starter. Doing so can save over 1,200 lbs of beef per month.

It’s a highly innovative ingredient, built for high amounts of innovation. Spare Starter can spare food waste and feed millions of undernourished Americans, while lowering their climate impact, valorising the sidestream and saving time – what’s not to like?

The post Food Waste or Wasted Food? Spare Food Co. Bets on Upcycled Vegetables for Blended Meat appeared first on Green Queen.

While still a niche category, an increasing number of brands are working with blended and hybrid meats – some nascent startups, others established meat producers. Funding is critical if this sector is to grow and reach its potential, but how do investors and VCs feel about these protein solutions?

This article is part of our content series exploring the world of hybrid and blended meat products – those blending cultivated or conventional proteins with plant-based ingredients, respectively, and why some think this is the future of reducing meat consumption.

In October, Andrew Arentowicz, founder and CEO of blended meat company 50/50 Foods, told me: “Our investors are very bullish on our potential.”

It’s a statement that has stuck with me, especially since later interviews we’ve done for this series about blended and hybrid meats have featured a similar rhetoric. “We’ve found investors – including those who are strongly anti-meat – are committed to the welfare of the planet and animals and see the blended solution as an immediate and achievable means of reducing meat consumption,” offered blended meat ingredients provider Mush Foods’ founder Shalom Daniel.

Meanwhile, hybrid meat producer SciFi Foods has raised over $40M in funding, after emerging from stealth with a $22M Series A last year. Newer brands are adding to the category – cellular agriculture expert Parendi Birdie just this week announced her blended meat startup to the world, while Paul’s Table has raised $500,000 in pre-seed funding.

This has come on the backdrop of a global drop in food tech VC funding over the last year. “In the current economic environment, fundraising is not only challenging for companies in the hybrid space, but across all of the food tech industry,” ProVeg International’s cellular agriculture lead Julia Martin recently told me.

So we at Green Queen were curious: in a more volatile environment than usual, and a category that is confident about its funding potential, how do investors see it? We spoke to Steve Molino, principal at Florida-based Clear Current Capital, and Heather Courtney, general partner at New York-headquartered Alwyn Capital.

Their views highlighted the often contrasting opinions among investors, and a need for consolidation and enhanced value propositions on the part of blended and hybrid meat startups. Here’s what they had to say.

This interview has been edited for clarity and concision.

Green Queen: Do you believe blended meat has potential as a food systems solution?

Steve Molino – YES: I’m very bullish on blended meat as one of the many food system solutions if it’s done right. ‘Done right’, to me, means blending conventional meat with plants in a way that won’t make consumers think twice. This means using natural plant ingredients and spices and avoiding unrecognisable ingredients that give people pause. If consumers think it’s simply meat and plants combined, and realise it doesn’t feel like a sacrifice on taste or experience, then the potential is legitimate.

Heather Courtney – NO: Blended has been tried before and the market wasn’t ready for it. We have asked a lot of omnivores in our circle, and none of them are overly excited about a blended product – they would prefer to make a periodic plant-based option to reap the health benefits of integrating more plants into their diet. We are not overly bullish on blended, but we hope to be proved wrong and see it reduce meat consumption.

GQ: Is hybrid meat a viable option?

HC – YES: Hybrid meat is how cultivated will enter the market on a broad scale, so we see this as a meaningful food systems solution. Technology that revolutionises a long-standing industry will always face pressure, and the cultivated industry is no different. Despite negative press, we are still bullish on the cultivated meat industry, and we see hybrid technology as a means of entry into the broader market.

SM – UNCLEAR: Hybrid meat’s viability is still tied to the overall viability of the cultivated space, which has many question marks. I view hybrid meat as both a long-term solution and a short- to medium-term necessity. In the long term, I think it could be viewed in the same vein as blended meat products, but in the short term, it’s likely the only way to make cultivated commercially feasible… as the chances of being able to economically produce 100% cultivated products that can compete on price with commoditised meat are slim to none in the next 10+ years.

Hybrid products will allow the cultivated market the chance to build and become normalised with consumers, while also – importantly – generating the revenues and business necessary to keep dollars flowing into the space, so scale can be further achieved.

GQ: What is more attractive to you as an investor, blended or hybrid meat?

SM – UNCLEAR: It depends on what’s driving an investor’s strategy. Blended meat companies should only be interesting to true CPG investors attracted by CPG business profiles and fundamentals. Alternatively, I think hybrid products are attractive to investors who have a deep interest in synthetic biology and trying to radically change the way meat is produced in the future. The latter has blatantly more risks and hurdles to overcome, but the perceived potential upside is greater.

Regardless, one key commonality between both approaches is that they have the ability to radically improve the impact of the food system on the planet, people and animals.

HC – NO: As investors who see the long-term health of our planet tied to transitioning away from relying on animals, blended products offer a novel short-term solution, but not a long-term goal.

GQ: Is the animal welfare aspect a dealbreaker for you when it comes to blended meat?

SM – NO: Blended meat is a bit controversial with some in the animal welfare space; however, it is an unequivocal win for animals. This undeniable win stems from the fact that impact is only created by getting people who eat meat to shift away from meat products. Since a vegan or vegetarian would never touch a blended product, that means every time a blended product is consumed, there is guaranteed displacement of animal demand that’s directly tied to the percentage of a blended product that is not meat.

The risk with fully vegan products is that when a vegan or vegetarian eats it, there is zero displacement of animal agriculture. For impact, it’s all about what meat-eaters want, and if this satiates them, while reducing meat consumption, then I’ll take that win all day.

HC – YES: Our mission is to see animals fully replaced in the consumer supply chain. As such, we won’t invest in a company that utilises slaughtered animal protein in their products so blended companies are not part of our portfolio construction.

GQ: How would you evaluate a blended or hybrid meat company from an investor’s perspective?

SM: I’d view a blended meat company solely through a CPG investing lens, so I’d be looking to understand how the product offering of conventional meat and plants is hitting on a consumer need that exists in the present day, and how the team is the right one to create a brand that drives strong traction and consumer loyalty. Tech or IP isn’t what will lead to a brand being successful; instead, it’s all about creating a great product that’s positioned to create a cult-like following with consumers.

I don’t think of evaluating ‘hybrid meat companies’. I see this as evaluating cultivated companies that will likely need to have hybrid products for the short to medium term to be commercially feasible. For these types of companies, technical and scientific capabilities (i.e., IP) are paramount, as well as the team that drives innovation on the tech and science, as the only way cultivated has a shot at becoming one of the solutions in the food system is if it can scale and prices drop dramatically. That will almost entirely be driven by tech and IP that are different from what exists and built with the purpose of scaling.

HC: Many of the cultivated companies we have invested in/have diligenced are pursuing a hybrid offering as their first product. We see these products as the way cultivated meat can enter the broader market at a competitive price and prove market fit.

GQ: Do you think there’s consumer demand for these products?

SM – THERE WILL BE: At the moment, no… because consumers don’t know it’s an idea. In the few instances where I’ve shared blended products with friends and family to gauge their interest (I don’t eat meat myself), the responses were overwhelmingly enthusiastic; however, that was for one specific company’s product that had its own approach to blended products.

Ultimately, I think demand can be quickly created as the space becomes a topic of interest for consumers, especially since many of these products will be able to hit on product attributes that consumers actually care about, such as fewer calories, eating more vegetables, and lessened health concerns around meat-heavy diets.

HC – NO: Previous failure of blended products to capture the market share shows there is work to be done and the consumer is likely not yet ready. There needs to be a strong focus on educating consumers about their benefits and unique qualities.

There also needs to be a strong focus on educating consumers about cultivated meat and how hybrid products can provide both health and environmental benefits.

GQ: Is lack of education/demand creation why previous efforts have failed?

HC – YES: Many consumers may not have been adequately informed or educated about the benefits and qualities of blended products. Successful marketing requires educating the consumer about their health and environmental benefits, which can be a significant hurdle.

SM – NOT NECESSARILY: While some have failed (i.e., Tyson’s blended products), Perdue’s Chicken Plus products continue to be a strong seller in the market. I think this simply comes down to building a CPG product in the right way. Blended products are for the here and now, and you can’t make this about technology or saving the planet.

When you look at Perdue’s offering, it talks about getting kids to eat veggies without having to sneak it in. They are clear on their target market – parents who are dying to figure out how to get their kids to eat vegetables – state a clear value proposition, and stay true to the format and offering their target market wants and needs (quick, convenient, frozen chicken nuggets for a reasonable price). Assuming that blended companies can create products that taste good, it will simply come down to traditional food business fundamentals.

GQ: Is foodservice a better way to enter the market for these products?

HC – YES: Ensuring a positive first customer experience is key to creating customer acceptance and trust.

SM – IT DEPENDS: That’s more dependent on the specifics of the product itself and the founders pushing the companies forward. If a founder has a background in building brands and deep relationships with distributors and retailers and has a product that doesn’t need much hand-holding during preparation, then retail is the obvious choice.

On the flip side, if there is more nuance to the product in how it’s prepared or used, and the founder doesn’t have strengths in brand building, then retail would likely be a disaster.

Interested in exploring blended and hybrid meats further? Read our coverage on the subject and interviews with founders here.

The post Blended & Hybrid Meat: Why Investors are Divided About Using Animal Proteins as an Ingredient appeared first on Green Queen.

As blended and hybrid meats begin to sizzle, Green Queen speaks to alternative protein bodies the Good Food Institute and ProVeg International to get their take on this novel approach to protein diversification.

This article is part of our content series exploring the world of hybrid and blended meat products – those blending cultivated or conventional proteins with plant-based ingredients, respectively, and why some think this is the future of reducing meat consumption.

Over the last few weeks, we’ve interviewed founders of various blended and hybrid meat startups, as we explore the potential of this approach. Plant-based meats have hit a roadblock in the last year, and cultivated meat is still in its commercial infancy, but – as the myriad reports published on the eve of COP28 next week say – we need to decarbonise fast, and now.

We’re on track to approach temperatures 3°C higher than pre-industrial levels, which present beyond-catastrophic implications. The global food system is responsible for a third of our greenhouse gas emissions, and meat production itself contributes to 60% of this share. Research suggests that replacing 50% of our meat and dairy intake with plant-based alternatives – which is essentially what blended meat is doing – can halt deforestation and double climate benefits.

The founders we’ve spoken to underline the potential for blended and hybrid meats as a means of protein diversification, and they are – as you’d expect – highly optimistic. But what do think tanks and sustainable food advocacy platforms think?

To find out, we spoke to the alternative protein think tank the Good Food Institute (GFI), the Good Food Institute APAC, and food systems change non-profit ProVeg International, to share their views on blended and hybrid meat. Here’s what they had to say:

On blended meat acceptance

GFI says any approach that can get alternative proteins closer to taste and price parity with conventional meat is worth leveraging, and blended meat can support both aspects. Combining pricier plant proteins with conventional meat can achieve comparable markups – but GFI highlights its focus by adding that this could eventually help increase scale to a point where plant-based proteins become cheaper than conventional meat.

GFI APAC’s managing director Mirte Gosker, meanwhile, added that these gateway products “present an opportunity for legacy food companies to dip their toe in, test the market, and provide a stepping stone towards increased plant-based food consumption” and open up “a lucrative new revenue stream for plant-based ingredient suppliers”.

But ProVeg has a slightly sterner stance on blended meat. Its cellular agriculture lead Julia Martin said that while the organisation “actively promotes” hybrid meat, it merely “tolerates” blended meat, acknowledging that the latter could be a “possible solution for the time being”.

On hybrid meat acceptance

“These combinations have a bigger potential to become sustainable long-term solutions,” Martin says of hybrid meats, adding that they “have a great potential to accelerate and expand consumer transition away from animal-based foods and towards a kinder and more sustainable food system”.

“Moreover, as cultivated meat technology develops, hybrid products are an impactful first step in creating familiarity among consumers with ingredients produced through this novel technology,” she adds.

GFI says the argument for hybrid products is similar to that of blended meat, but notes the dynamics are flipped on cost. Most cultivated meat offerings that will come to market in the short-term are likely to be hybrid, in order to provide a more accessible price point- currently, these are very expensive to produce. Cultivated meat can offer similar sensory improvements that conventional meat does in blends.

Additionally, the think tank believes that using cultivated fat as an ingredient in primarily plant protein products (as companies like Mission Barns are doing) could be especially attractive, as fat is essential for flavour and a meaty mouthfeel.

On investor support

“In the current economic environment, fundraising is not only challenging for companies in the hybrid space, but across all of the food tech industry,” notes Martin. “Fortunately, we are starting to see the first cultivated companies apply for regulatory clearance and even hit the market, and hopefully, this will serve as proof of the immense impact that these products are able to deliver and stimulate further confidence into the space.”

“The blended meat category is still very nascent, so there isn’t much investor data available. So far, it is mostly large-scale food companies that have ventured into offering such products,” says Gosker, pointing to the examples of Perdue Farms, Tyson and Hormel.

Perdue Farms, which used Better Meat Co.‘s mycelium-derived Rhiza protein in its blended meat range, told GFI in its State of the Industry Report 2022 that it has been “extremely successful since launching in 2019”, with new flavours and formats being added to the category.

Smaller-scale companies have also attracted investor interest: Los Angeles-based blended meat maker Paul’s Table has raised $500,000 in pre-seed funding, while San Francisco’s hybrid meat startup SciFi Foods emerged from stealth last year with a $22M Series A round. Andrew Arentowicz, CEO of blended meat company 50/50 Foods Inc (also from LA) – which mixes meat with vegetables – told Green Queen its “investors are very bullish on our potential”. A similar startup, New York-based Phil’s Finest, found success on Shark Tank too.

Meanwhile, Shalom Daniel, founder of Israeli blended meat producer Mush Foods, told Green Queen: “We’ve found investors – including those who are strongly anti-meat – are committed to the welfare of the planet and animals and see the blended solution as an immediate and achievable means of reducing meat consumption.

On consumer interest

“As cultivated meat technology develops, hybrid products are an impactful first step in creating familiarity among consumers with ingredients produced through this novel technology,” says Martin.

To gauge consumer opinion about hybrid meats, ProVeg conducted a UK-wide survey last year, asking 1,000 Brits whether they’d eat these products. A third of respondents said they would, a result ProVeg calls “quite promising, especially given that the vast majority of people are not at all familiar with this novel product category”, though a similar number of people (30%) were unsure about consuming these products, highlighting the need for increased public awareness and familiarity.

The acceptance for these products was higher among younger generations and men, with about 40% of millennials and Gen Zers expressing interest, versus 32% of Gen Xers and 29% of boomers. Men (39%) are more likely to try these products too (compared to 31% of women). University-educated millennials and Gen Z men are, in general, more open to eating (51%) and buying (47%) hybrid meat.

GFI says it is planning to conduct its first report on blended meat in the near future. Moreover, an investor who attended GFI’s Good Food Conference 2023 in September told Green Queen the panel on blended meat had a high level of engagement and was much more well attended than in previous years.

On marketing

How these products are presented to customers is vital to their success. GFI alludes to this in its State of the Industry report. “Communicating the benefits of blended products to consumers may require nuanced product positioning, as this is a relatively new and subtle category that requires a clear value proposition,” it states. “Targeting the right consumer groups will be critical – for example, parents who want to incorporate more vegetables into their children’s meals.”

With hybrid meats, Martin says the “trend is definitely focusing on the superior sensory attributes” provided by hybrid products – especially those composed of plant-based proteins with cultivated fats ( as GFI mentioned above). “These products are likely to be initially marketed as premium, but that’s just natural in early adoption cycles for any novel category.”

GFI APAC’s Gosker adds: “Non-meat ingredients such as meat extenders, starches and binders have long played a role in developing conventional meat products to reduce costs for consumers or add functionality, but the new wave of plant-based innovation offers plenty of room for more strategic integration of higher-quality ingredients that bring added nutritional benefits.

“If brands select plant-based ingredients that offer advantages such as lower fat and desirable vitamins and nutrients, this could increase the overall health profile of a conventional meat product in a way that is broadly appealing to consumers.”

Gosker stresses the need for further research to determine where these products need to be shelved in-store, how best to communicate to customers that they contain both animal and plant-based ingredients, how to establish a value proposition for these meats, and which blends perform best in different formats and contexts.

Paul Shapiro, co-founder and CEO of Better Meat Co (which supplies to Perdue), told Green Queen that blended meat must be marketed as “enhanced meat – something better than a product that’s solely animal meat”. “This is what Perdue does, and its Chicken Plus product has performed well on the market for nearly four years now,” he outlined.

On the category’s challenges

Where next for blends and hybrids? “Consumers across different geographies are excited to try the products,” says Martin, though she warns that early products will have high prices and very limited availability. “However, as the technology evolves, it is expected that costs will decrease making products more accessible, as well as increase their availability.”

GFI reiterates the hurdles relating to category, product and brand positioning, as well as consumer communication, adding that blended and hybrid meats will need to reach a broader audience of meat-eating consumers to truly fulfil their potential.

Gosker concurs with Martin’s point about public excitement. “Consumer interest and potential demand for blended meat products are evident – but to grow as a category, [companies] will need to hit the trifecta of achieving price parity, meeting or exceeding consumer expectations on taste and texture, and effectively communicating their benefits over conventional meat,” she explains.

“Fortunately, blends are positioned to compete well on price, since they offer wide flexibility in ingredient ratios to adjust for taste, texture and cost optimisation. Indeed, some conventional meat producers have even managed to lower their total product costs by integrating plant-based proteins, thereby making their blended products more affordable from a cost-of-goods standpoint than conventional meats.”

She echoes GFI’s statement about how growing demand for blended meat could ramp up plant protein production, reaching a scale that will close the price gap between animal and plant proteins. GFI, though, envisions a multi-hybrid future. The organisation that named plant-based, cultivated and fermented proteins as the three pillars of the alt-protein category says the lines between these products will blur.

Each offers unique advantages, and the products most likely to win on taste and price would ideally leverage the best of all of these platforms. For example, a meat alternative composed primarily of plant proteins, a dash of cultivated fat and key flavour-boosting ingredients like fermentation-derived heme proteins, perhaps? Could be a winning formula for early actors in this space!

The post Blended & Hybrid Meat: What Do Sustainable Protein Policy Advocates Think? appeared first on Green Queen.

After years of working with cellular agriculture companies, Parendi Birdie is now working on her own blended meat startup, Asentia. She tells Green Queen about launch plans, consumer testing, and the best way to market these products.

This article is part of our content series exploring the world of hybrid and blended meat products – those blending cultivated or conventional proteins with plant-based ingredients, respectively, and why some think this is the future of reducing meat consumption.

Eating meat is fuelled by our unconscious desire for satisfaction, not cognition. Familiarity, place and origin are key concepts in food psychology, and the primal instinct in us still dictates why we eat what we eat.

This is what Parendi Birdie, a cellular agriculture expert now working on blended meat with her new startup Asentia (currently in stealth mode), tells me. It’s also what a survey by the International Food Information Council (IFIC) earlier this year tells us, revealing how three-quarters of its 1,022 American respondents feel food consumption impacts their physical and mental well-being.

It rings true when applied to meat-eating too. In 2021, Ipsos conducted a 1,018-person poll that revealed how 89% of Americans include meat in their diets. It noted an interesting observation: 59% of respondents believed eating meat is the American way of life, and 52% felt that people advocating for reduced consumption are trying to control what the public eats.

The psychological explanation above extends to plant-based meat, and its barriers to adoption, as Birdie explains: “Evolutionary wiring makes it easy to envision how a cow becomes a burger, but it’s challenging to envision how peas transform into a burger. This confusion then creates room for doubt and allows the narrative of unnatural/processed/fake meat to gain traction.”

But there is a solution to this – one that could cut people’s meat intake, and simultaneously help them overcome their neophobia around plant-based alternatives. “Blends can sidestep this discussion by focusing on meat that’s enhanced with plants,” explains Birdie. “This approach allows blends to confidently occupy the realm of ‘real’ in the consumer’s minds, without questioning its authenticity.”

The idea is to throw out the black-and-white thinking, “the rules and labels”, to craft an ideal meat product. “We’re combining the meat we know and crave with the plant-powered benefits we want more of to create inspired, enhanced protein with more flavour, juiciness and nutrients,” Birdie says of her new startup.

The challenges facing blended meat

In an interview with food tech firm Alt Collective – where she works as a scientific advisor – Birdie explained how she came across cultured meat in 2013, which was the springboard of her career in cellular agriculture and alt-protein. She has a biochemistry degree and has been an early team member at cultivated meat startups GOOD Meat and Mission Barns (she also interned at precision fermentation company The EVERY Co).

In January, she left her position as head of brand strategy at Mission Barns and began working in strategic and advisory roles with various companies. The other thing she’s been working on is blended meat, which she says is “the silver bullet” to solve the biggest problems in alternative protein.

Some companies – like SciFi Foods – are combining cultured proteins with plant-based to create hybrid meat. Birdie’s startup will start with a blend of conventional and plant proteins. “Rather than trying to make plants taste like meat, we use them to enhance meat, offering something genuinely better,” she says. “The companies that will succeed here will have a consumer-obsessed, taste-first approach, connecting on a deeper emotional, gut level.”

And there are legs to this approach, as numerous studies have shown. That IFIC report revealed that taste continues to be the top purchase driver for food and beverage in the US. Recently, a Mintel survey showed that flavour (48%) ranks as the biggest factor stopping Americans from trying plant-based meat.

But there are doubts about the blended meat segment. Companies from Tyson Foods to Aldi have all tried to do this and failed. Perhaps there were a few marketing faux pas here. Tyson, with all its money and might, went with ‘Angus Beef & Isolated Pea Protein’ as the front-of-pack message on its Raised & Rooted blended burger – hardly an inspiring (or mouthwatering) slogan.

According to the IFIC poll, while 14% of Americans consumed more blended meats in the last year, that growth rate decreased from the year before. Moreover, a higher number of consumers (20%) are eating fewer of these products. Industry think-tank the Good Food Institute (GFI) says that – amidst mainstream recognition of plant-based meat and numerous headlines about the headways made by cultivated meat startups – blended meat might need some help with its value proposition vis-a-vis consumers. It adds that the sector needs to reach a broader meat-eating base.

So, with these numbers in mind, why would people want to eat a burger made from an animal-plant blend? “135 million Americans don’t try a product by accident,” says Birdie, referencing a Gallup poll from 2020 that revealed how 41% of Americans have tried meat alternatives. “There is something deep and real that drew millions of people to try plant-based meat. We all want to eat better, but don’t want to sacrifice taste.”

Market testing and launch plans

“There is a huge, untapped market of people actively seeking plant-forward options, but today, they only have two choices: meat and plant-based meat,” explains Birdie. “This binary leaves a big set of the population frustrated by underperforming plant-based meat products designed for vegans.”

This is something plant-based meat company Impossible Foods has touched upon. Speaking to Green Queen last week, a spokesperson for the brand said: “Taste is the #1 reason why consumers will decide to purchase a product again or not. Many consumers have unfortunately had a less-than-positive first impression of various plant-based products, and that casts doubt on the rest of the category as a whole.”

Asentia is “exploring what makes the finest cuts of meat so extraordinary” and applying “cutting-edge culinary techniques” to create products that deliver the flavour experience found in only “the most exquisite cuts”. The team’s R&D testing has led to the development of new approaches to thermal treatment, flavour development and mixed-protein binding – “all to allow our consumers to enjoy a clean label, while not sacrificing the sensory experience”.

This is reflected in the initial product lineup: truffle-mushroom meatballs, bourbon-bacon-artichoke sausages, and black Angus-roast shallot and shiitake burgers. While there’s no launch date yet, the plan is to enter retail first, before moving to foodservice with blended meats that “aim to outperform plant-based and conventional meat on all fronts”.

And Birdie says she can back this up with data. In setting up her company, she has done extensive research, including surveys and focus groups, plus a Meta in-market ad testing with over 200,000 participants. According to Birdie, who extrapolates the testing results based on the overall US population, 163 million Americans are “excited” for products that combine plant and animal protein, while 64 million flexitarians agreed that “Instead of eating plant-based meat occasionally, I’d prefer to regularly eat a meat product that combines real meat and plants.” No doubt these are encouraging stats.

“These products offer an enhanced sensory experience with the plant-powered benefits we want more of,” suggests Birdie. “This, coupled with the cultural and psychological familiarity of meat, is the winning combination for widespread, daily adoption. We’re pioneering a new category to meet this massive unmet demand.”

That adoption point is something Mirte Gosker, managing director of GFI APAC, is bullish about. “If blends are embraced by conventional meat industry players, it could dramatically increase plant-based meat manufacturing globally, which – through economies of scale – could drive down production costs for all plant-based ingredients, including those used for fully plant-based products,” she told Green Queen.

In it for the long term

The blended meat category is still embryonic, but several companies – including 50/50 Foods and Mush Foods – are making progress in this space. There is, of course, the climate argument to contend with: beef is the worst greenhouse-gas-emitting food on the planet. But meat reduction is a much more pragmatic and deliverable approach than outright elimination.

Plus, research has found that replacing just half of our meat and dairy consumption with plant-based alternatives – essentially what blended meat is doing – can cut 31% of our agricultural and land use emissions, halt deforestation, halve the decline of ecosystems, and double overall climate benefits.

Gosker cited a report by the Guardian last year, which forecast the predicted impact of blended meat on our food system. “If Burger King and McDonald’s – which together represent between 2-3% of global beef purchases – changed their beef patties into 50/50 blends with plant-based meat, demand for global agricultural land would reduce by 8.5 million hectares – an area the size of Ireland,” she summarised.

“The stakes are so high for this cause, yet the standards are far too low,” says Birdie. “Our vision radically differs from others and we aim to be a leading force driving change, not merely to be along for the ride. When I look at where we want to be in, let’s say 100 years from now – a world in which we truly have a sustainable protein industry – it’s hard for me to envision a realistic path without blends playing a critical role.”

Biride adds that she isn’t too excited about blended meat’s short-term benefits. “I believe the true power of blends lies in their unique ability to create an environment where the entire sustainable, alt-protein protein sector can thrive.”

This article was updated to include the name of Parendi Birdie’s startup, which was under wraps at the time of publication.

The post Cell Ag Expert Parendi Birdie on Her New Blended Meat Startup Asentia: ‘We’re Throwing Out the Black & White Thinking’ appeared first on Green Queen.

CEO and co-founder of Californian hybrid meat company SciFi Foods Joshua March on alt meat price parity, why he’s all in on combining plant proteins with cultivated meat instead of conventional, and consumers’ disregard for industry terms.

This article is part of our content series exploring the world of hybrid and blended meat products – those blending cultivated or conventional proteins with plant-based ingredients, respectively, and why some think this is the future of reducing meat consumption.

“SCiFi Foods is not the future we fear. It’s the future we dream of.”

That’s the message on the homepage of SciFi Foods, an alt-protein company from California. The future it’s referring to is cultivated meat, but just not in the way you’ve imagined it. SciFi Foods is taking the best of two worlds – the superior taste credentials of cultured proteins and the cost-effectiveness and scalability of plant-based ingredients – to create a hybrid beef product.

There are many reasons for this. First, while Americans may have a bad rep when it comes to meat-eating, plant-based consumption, and linking meat and dairy intake to climate change, a 1,022-person survey by the International Food Information Council (IFIC) this May found that the climate impact of meat and poultry affects the purchasing decisions of 62% of US citizens – for seafood, that number is 45%.

Secondly, Americans have some concerns about the way meat is produced in the country. According to a 1,018-person poll last December by the Good Food Institute (GFI), 46% of Americans are worried about the use of antibiotics. Over a third (36%) are perturbed by the oligopolistic nature of the US meat industry that is dominated by a few very large, and very powerful, corporations, and by the treatment of animals (35%).

Third, there’s a reason why only two companies are authorised to sell cultivated meat in the US. It’s still a relatively nascent category with a tall ladder to climb, not least in terms of regulatory hurdles, production costs and scalability. This problem is exacerbated when you realise that, as per the GFI survey, 46% of Americans are concerned about the rising costs of meat as well.

Reuters claims that cultivated meat needs to reach production costs of $2.92 per pound to be price-competitive with traditional meat. Neither Upside Foods nor Eat JUST, the only two producers with US regulatory approval, have disclosed the absolute per pound costs of their respective cultivated chicken. While cultured meat companies have managed to cut manufacturing costs by 99% in less than a decade, McKinsey analysis estimates that it will still take until 2030 for it to reach price parity with its conventional counterparts, which feels like a long time away.

Despite all that, 45% of respondents in GFI’s survey said they’d likely try cultivated meat. Crucially, this was after the technology was properly described to them. You can look at that as a glass half-empty or half-full manner: nearly half of Americans are receptive to cultured meat, but more than half are not.

The problem with blended meat

All this leaves cultivated meat in limbo. Some companies – like 50/50 Foods and Mush Foods – are betting on blended meat, which differs from hybrid in that it pairs plant proteins with conventional meat. It’s a way people can “have their meat and eat it too”, as 50/50 Foods CEO Andrew Arentowicz told Green Queen last month.

But that category has had its ups and downs, with meat giants like Tyson Foods and retailers like Aldi introducing and subsequently pulling blended meat products from the market. The IFIC survey revealed that while 14% of Americans were eating more blended meats in the last year, that is a decline from the growth seen the year before. Plus, a higher number (20%) are eating fewer of these products, while an equal number have never consumed it.

Plant-based meat has reached mainstream recognition and cultivated meat is making headlines with its regulatory approvals, crowding out the category before you even consider fermentation-based proteins. GFI notes that blended may need support in establishing a value proposition with consumers and needs to reach a broader meat-eating audience to access its full potential.

Allaying consumer concerns

Which brings us back to the future according to SciFi Foods. “We know that 100% cultivated meat may take decades to develop, while hybrid products are possible today,” says its co-founder and CEO Joshua March. “Products that blend plant-based meat with conventional meat are great in concept,” he adds, “but buying food is a very emotional decision.”

This is because “a significant part of the benefit of eating meat alternatives comes from the emotional satisfaction of knowing that no animal was killed”, alongside the climate factor – it’s no secret that plant-based alternatives are much more climate-friendly than meat. “That emotional impact is just not there if ‘slightly fewer animals died for this burger’,” outlines March. “This isn’t about marketing messages, but rather the emotional impact of different products, which make a huge impact.”

But look at the flipside then. Why would meat-eaters who are indifferent to plant-based alternatives and apprehensive of cultivated proteins want to replace their meat with a mix of these two? “We think getting on the market ASAP with an amazing product is the best way to attract all consumers, and our brand is about a tasty burger that uses cultivated beef cells as their magic ingredient,” explains March. “We think the novelty of the cells will attract early consumers, including meat-eaters, and the taste will keep them coming back.”

He continues: “Ultimately, concepts like hybrid or blended are more industry terms and have little relevance for the average consumer.” He punctuates this point with the example of fellow Californian alt-meat company Impossible Foods. “Today, consumers routinely buy the Impossible Burger without dissecting its composition, which includes recombinant proteins produced through precision fermentation [the company’s signature heme ingredient] blended with isolated plant proteins and other ingredients.”

Price parity and 2024 launch plans

Previously called Artemys Foods, SciFi Foods emerged from stealth last year with a $22M Series A round led by blue chip Silicon Valley VC Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), moving into a new 16,000 sq ft pilot facility. Even with hybrid products, March says the biggest challenges are cost and scale: “Scaling up a novel biomanufacturing process is always hard, but it’s especially hard if you are producing commodity products at competitive prices.”

In July last year, the startup announced it had achieved price parity with conventional beef using a combination of its proprietary high-throughput cell line engineering and CRISPR technology. The latter is a piece of tech adapted from a genome editing system used by bacteria for immunity and has been touted as a potential embryonic treatment for several hereditary diseases (though it carries some controversy, as studies say altering the DNA of embryos or eggs and sperm could cause mutations that lead to other health threats).

SciFi Foods has experimented with 10-20% cultivated proteins mixed with plant-based proteins (primarily soy) to produce a burger it claims will cost under $10 to make at its facility, with scaled-up manufacturing potentially driving costs further down to $1 per burger.

March points to the industrial fermentation space for proof points that price parity for this sector is possible. “But,” he adds, “there is only one reasonable blueprint for how to get there: a very simple process with minimal downstream processing and robust cell lines that grow well with low-cost inputs.

“Many of those cell lines are optimised through genetic engineering to approach the maximum theoretical performance for converting feed to product. We believe that all of the same principles apply to cultivated meat, which informs our unique strategy.” And since SciFi Foods is making hybrid beef, it doesn’t “need to worry about tissue maturation or scaffolding, which dramatically reduces the complexity and cost” of its process.

Steve Molino, Principal at US venture fund Clear Current Capital, which backs food system disruptors, says he thinks the SciFi team is on the right track strategically. “While some are obsessing over how to create 100% cultivated products, I agree with SCiFi’s approach of understanding the minimum inclusion rate required to create the same experience as conventional beef. This strategy will allow for the improved unit economics and scale that will ultimately maximize the chances of reaching commercial viability.” Note: Clear Current Capital is not an investor in SciFi Foods.

The company plans to launch through foodservice channels – as Eat JUST’s GOOD Meat and Upside Foods have done – at the end of 2024, pending regulatory approval. SciFi’s cultivated beef product, which the company hopes will be the first cultivated beef product to launch on the market globally, will need to be cleared for sale by the FDA, while its harvest process and product labelling will be supervised by the USDA.

Molino recently attended a SciFi Foods burger tasting and left very impressed: “Cultivated companies will not be successful by creating things that are simply better than plant-based products. They’ll win if they can create the same, ordinary experience animal products offer, which is loved by the masses. The SciFi burger did just that, and both myself and the meat eater I brought along with me thought ‘it simply tastes like a good hamburger’.

The company’s Series A round was followed by a partnership with Michigan State University to test and finalise the plant-based part of its hybrid burger, as well as further investments that have taken total financing to over $40M. One of its early backers was the British brand Coldplay, so it does beg the question: could the scientists at SciFi Foods fix you(r meat cravings)?

Read the first two instalments of this series: interviews with 50/50 Foods CEO Andrew Arentowicz and Mush Foods CEO Shalom Daniel.

The post SciFi Foods CEO on Cultivated-Plant Hybrid Meat: ‘Buying Food is a Very Emotional Decision’ appeared first on Green Queen.

Shalom Daniel, CEO of mycelium meat company Mush Foods, tells Green Queen about why the brand’s ingredient is ideal for blended meat applications, why anti-meat investors believe flex meat is the solution, and its mission to halve global meat consumption.

This article is part of our content series exploring the world of hybrid and blended meat products – those blending cultivated or conventional proteins with plant-based ingredients, respectively, and why some think this is the future of reducing meat consumption.

People love a good burger. It could be the umami hit, the succulent mouthfeel, or maybe even the condiments. But you know who doesn’t love a good burger? The planet (and oh, the cows).

But there’s a solution waiting for consumers wanting to reduce their meat consumption: plant-based meat. The problem with the Beyonds and Impossibles of this world, however, is that as alternatives to ‘the real thing’, they command higher expectations from people eating them.

A 1,500-person survey by Kerry Group earlier this year – covering the US, UK, Australia and Brazil – revealed that consumers have greater taste expectations for vegan burgers than conventional ones, adding that great flavour is key to the sector’s success. Last year, an even larger 8,000-consumer poll across the US, UK, France and Germany found that about half of respondents “greatly preferred” the taste of animal protein over plant-based alternatives.

Companies working with blended and hybrid meat say they’re offering a solution. 50/50 Foods, for example, makes a half-beef, half-vegetable burger so people can “have their meat and eat it too”. To explain the appeal, its founder Andrew Arentowicz told me that the company simply put flavour enhancers like roasted mushrooms and caramelised onions – typically used as burger toppings – inside the burgers.

You could argue that this makes cooking easier and cut costs for chefs and home cooks alike, without compromising on the taste. This is echoed by Shalom Daniel, co-founder and CEO of Israel’s Mush Foods: “A blended solution appeals to those who want to consume less meat, [and] to the foodservice industry who looks for innovation and cost efficiencies, and all without sacrificing taste.”

A plug-and-play mycelium ingredient for blended meat

Unlike many blended meat brands, which combine conventional meat with vegetables, Mush Foods is taking a slightly different approach to blended meat.

In March 2022, a small peer-reviewed consumer study – using data from September 2019 with 172 US participants – unearthed some interesting revelations. While people still favour a 100% beef burger over any alternatives, they chose a beef-mushroom blended burger over a yeast-based ‘animal-like’ patty and a pea protein one in a blind taste test. The results became more intriguing when the participants were told about what was in the meat –they chose the yeast protein patty over the blended in an informed taste test. “When consumers know more about the ingredients of the blended burger, the demand decreases,” concluded the study.

This leaves blended meat brands in a bind: consumers like the mix of meat and vegetables, but only until they know that meat and more realistic alternatives exist. Mush Foods is splitting the difference. It makes a mushroom-derived mycelium protein ingredient tailored to be paired with conventional meat that enhances the latter’s flavour profile. “With Mush’s mycelium blends, the natural flavours of the meat truly come out,” notes Daniel.

The startup’s mission is to cut global meat consumption by half. But doesn’t blending a mycelium meat ingredient with animal protein feel counterproductive, I ask Daniel? His reply? Not at all. “If we are realistic, it is unlikely that 100% of the global population will become vegan. In some countries, meat will remain a symbol of growing personal wealth, and that won’t change,” he explains.

“But we don’t need the entire world to go vegan to have a positive impact on our food supply and environment,” he adds. A recent study showed that replacing meat and dairy with plant-based alternatives can reduce emissions by a third, halt deforestation and double overall climate benefits. “Part of this equation is that mushrooms require less water and land than cows for production. Mush is pure mycelium – we are not using pre-existing raw ingredients like pea, soy, wheat, etc., so are not tapping additional crops,” Shalom explains.

“To create the ideal match for specific animal proteins, we grow different 14 species of mycelium and then custom-tailor the blend to partner chicken, beef, pork and fish. The process involves mixing two to three different species of mycelium to produce the exact moisture level, binding ability, taste, colour and texture to complement the unique qualities of each kind of animal protein. Every blend looks and tastes different, as each of the target animal meats has [its] own characteristics.”

Launch plans and investor support

Mush Foods’ mycelium is grown on organic substrates “without any additives or seasonings”, in a circular process that involves using upcycled food waste from agricultural sidestreams. It released its first product line, 50CUT, earlier this year, offering foodservice operators a plug-and-play ingredient to blend conventional beef with. The range now has six varieties that pair with specific types of meat, including chicken, fish and pork.

The company plans to build pilot plants in the US and launch sales in Q1 next year. For now, it’s working exclusively with foodservice companies as a B2B operator. “We are working efficiently and avoiding expending energy by competing in areas like distribution, retail agreements, branding, etc.,” explains Daniel. “Our approach is to collaborate with big players and bring new versions of product favourites to market, or create new blended product lines.”

Mush Foods is still new to the US market though it is already in discussions with “several notable foodservice companies” and the chef community. It will soon launch pilot tasting events nationwide though the company has no plans to manufacture blended products via a B2C model. “We’ll stick to what we know,” says Daniel. “We cultivate products that the meat and food industries can easily use and blend without having to invest in new capital, change their manufacturing processes, or learn new methods.”

Speaking of investing, the company’s main backers include tech VC leader Viola Ventures, The Kitchen FoodTech Hub incubator, and alt-protein VC firm Milk & Honey Ventures in Israel, and Siddhi Capital in the US, among others. “We’ve found investors – including those who are strongly anti-meat – are committed to the welfare of the planet and animals and see the blended solution as an immediate and achievable means of reducing meat consumption,” says Daniel.

“Mush’s proprietary growing technology allows for mass scalability, thus providing far greater potential in a much shorter time period than any other food tech category.” While it takes over a year to farm cows for meat, and around four months to grow soy, it only takes eight to 10 days to grow mycelium.

Better marketing is paramount

Scalability and affordability may not be as much of an issue – but appeal certainly is. In November last year, a pilot study of 4,000 employees from various financial businesses in New York revealed that Mush Foods’ 50CUT blended beef and mycelium burger ranked the highest out of 11 main dish options. But, as Daniel attests, marketing remains a big hurdle for blended meat. “What’s been done to date hasn’t resonated, whether it be by a smaller CPG or a well-known brand.”

Take German retailer Aldi, for example, which received backlash for launching a BBQ Flexitarian Burger made from beef and beans in 2019 – the product has since been phased out. Tesco, meanwhile, launched a Lean & Greens range combining chicken with vegetables in 2021, but the reviews are not great, either for flavour or misleading messaging.

Even Tyson, the world’s second-largest meat producer, launched blended beef and pea protein burgers and nuggets under its Raised & Rooted range in 2019, only to withdraw the products a year and a half later. “The Raised & Rooted Blend will be discontinued as we constantly evaluate products working alongside our customers and consumers,” a Tyson spokesperson said at the time.

If not a hurdle, per se, consumer sentiment needs serious navigation, says Daniel: “Consumers would not give up on taste and texture of real meat.” Paul Shapiro, CEO of The Better Meat Co, which also makes a mycelium ingredient for use in blended meat products, agrees. “It’s imperative that hybrid meat be marketed as enhanced meat – something better than a product that’s solely animal meat,” Shapiro tells me.

Can Mush Foods give people what they want? “We’re on a mission to provide the same sensational experience [as conventional meat], without any comparison on nutrition,” says Daniel. “Mush Foods fully delivers the goodness and taste of real meat, but with the added benefit of being able to eat less of it.”

Read the first instalment of this series: an interview 50/50 Foods CEO Andrew Arentowicz.

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Andrew Arentowicz, CEO of blended meat startup 50/50 Foods Inc explains who his target consumer is, why blended meat has failed before, why the category has a marketing problem and his take on the animal welfare question.

This article is part of our content series exploring the world of hybrid and blended meat products – those blending cultivated or conventional proteins with plant-based ingredients, respectively, and why some think this is the future of reducing meat consumption.

Americans consume too much meat. This isn’t me trying to anger anyone – it’s a literal fact. The US population eats 233.3g of meat a day, which is almost three times the maximum recommended amount by the Eat-Lancet Commission to achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals and meet the targets of the 2015 Paris Agreement.

While plant-based, cultivated and fermented meat companies have all been trying to get consumers to see the effect their diet has on the environment, many don’t. In fact, while vegan meat alternatives have undergone a sales and PR hit, the FAO – you know, the UN food body that deliberately censored data about livestock farming’s impact on climate change – says we will be eating 14% more meat by 2030.

So with plant-based meat still reeling from financial setbacks, cultivated meat in touch regulatory landscape, and fermentation-based proteins still a nascent category, where does that leave us? The answer might be going back to animal-derived meat.

At least a little bit.

Some are proposing blended or hybrid meats as a solution. Blended meat refers to a mix of traditional animal protein with plant-based ingredients, while hybrid combines the latter with cultivated meat. A bunch of companies are already working in this sector, hoping to influence people to reduce meat consumption by eating the same amount of meat products, albeit with less meat.

Consumer research shows taste is paramount

Here’s the thing. Consumer perceptions of these products are very much informed by traditional meat, and while price and health are important drivers, nothing beats flavour. Research has shown that taste is the number one factor for people choosing to eat or avoid meat alternatives. Last year, an 8,000-person survey covering the US, UK, France and Germany found that about half of respondents “greatly preferred” the taste of animal protein over plant-based analogues.

Similarly, a Kerry Group report published earlier this year – surveying 1,500 consumers in the US, UK, Australia and Brazil – suggested that people have greater taste expectations for plant-based burgers than conventional ones, adding that great flavour is key to the sector’s success.

For blended products, this is where the opportunity lies. A peer-reviewed consumer study published in March 2022 – using data from September 2019 with a relatively small size of 172 US participants – revealed that Americans still preferred beef a 100% beef burger over any other alternatives. But when it came to three substitutes – a pea protein patty, a yeast-based ‘animal-like’ patty and a blend of animal beef and mushrooms – consumers chose the blended burger in a blind taste test.

The blended burger was 70% animal beef and 30% mushrooms. One company proposing a different share is 50/50 Foods, Inc – no points for guessing its proportion. The Los Angeles-based startup says it’s the only USDA-approved 50/50 burger, which is comprised 50% beef and 50% vegetables (mushrooms, onions, cauliflower, broccoli and garlic), along with spices and seasonings.

This way, Americans can “have their meat and eat it too”, as 50/50 Foods founder Andrew Arentowicz puts it. “The global food system accounts for approximately one-third of total GHG emissions, with beef being the #1 emitter, by a country mile,” he tells me. “How you get Americans to eat less meat is the biggest question in need of an answer, and we think we have it.”

Arentowicz explains that cutting beef consumption in half can “actually move the needle” on climate change. The comment chimes with research showing that meat and dairy cause twice as many emissions as plant-based foods. And a study published last month found that replacing half our animal product consumption with plant-based alternatives could reduce agriculture and land use emissions by 31%, halt forest and natural land destruction, and double overall climates – although if you’re American, your meat intake needs to go down by 82% if you want to avoid climate disasters.

And it’s because, despite 95% of Americans continuing to eat meat, 74% don’t think eating less of it will help the environment. It’s these consumers 50/50 Foods is targeting. “Not to mention, moms who want their kids to eat more veggies,” Arentowicz adds.

Why blended meat hasn’t worked – yet

It’s not like companies haven’t tried selling blended meat before – they’ve just… not worked? For example, German retailer Aldi got backlash for launching a BBQ Flexitarian Burger made from beef and beans in 2019 (it’s nowhere to be seen anymore). Tesco launched a Lean & Greens range combining chicken with vegetables in 2021 (the reviews are not great, either for taste or misleading messaging).

And sure, private-label supermarket products aren’t always the most flavourful. Well, Tyson – the world’s second-largest meat company – launched blended beef-pea protein burgers and nuggets under its Raised & Rooted range in the summer of 2019, only to pull the products in December 2020. “The Raised & Rooted Blend will be discontinued as we constantly evaluate products working alongside our customers and consumers,” a Tyson spokesperson said at the time.

So why would these products work now? Arentowicz has an interesting analogy. “You might remember that ‘search was dead’ before Google came along – InfoSeek, Ask Jeeves, Yahoo Search all failed,” he reminds me. “Sometimes, you need to get it right before consumers will buy it.

“Tyson’s Raised & Rooted blended burger said they were ‘beef and pea protein isolate’ burgers. Who wants to eat – let alone buy – pea protein isolate?” he wonders. “Additionally, timing helps. Processed plant [meat] like Beyond and Impossible is struggling, and cultivated meat is still decades away from viability. So I think the timing for a flexitarian category is now.” [Although only 6% of Americans followed a flexitarian diet last year, while 5% adopted a ‘low-carbon footprint/sustainable diet.]

Asked if 50/50 Foods has conducted any consumer trials, Arentowicz says: “Yes. Lots. People almost universally love our 50/50 burger because it tastes great.” Why, you ask? “Because we put flavour-enhancing toppings – like roasted mushrooms, caramelised onions, and roasted garlic – inside our burgers.”

In that consumer study where blended burgers came out on top in the blind taste test, people actually chose the yeast protein over the blended in an informed taste test, where they knew what the products were (the pea protein patty still came last). “When consumers know more about the ingredients of the blended burger, the demand decreases,” concluded the study.

As mentioned above, online reviews of Tesco’s blended meat range show that people are confused by the labels. This is a marketing problem, and Arentowicz says the solution might be in the name. “I don’t like the word ‘blended’ or ‘hybrid’, and I am hoping the leaders in this space – the handful of us – can rally around a more appealing category name. I don’t think we have it yet, but I think ‘flex’ or ‘flex meat’ (for flexitarianism) is the best we’ve got at the moment.” he says. “But I’m open to any suggestions, lol.”

The climate and animal welfare arguments

50/50, whose first product is a grass-fed Angus beef burger, plans to create half-and-half hot dogs and chicken nuggets too. Grass-fed beef currently makes up about 4% of US beef sales, and according to a 2017 report, 75-80% of grass-fed beef sold stateside is grown abroad (Angus beef itself is native to the UK) – this pushes up the product’s environmental footprint. One study estimates that grain-fed beef can have a 67.5% lower carbon footprint than grass-fed.

Arentowicz disputes these numbers, explaining that it isn’t “settled research”, pointing to a story explaining why (albeit by a meat company). But, like 50/50 Foods’ meat, he remains flexible: “We are beef-agnostic. Our clients dictate which beef they want to use. We currently use grass-fed beef in our retail product, but that’s a personal choice at this particular juncture of our business.”

Even if you put the climate argument aside for a second, how does blended meat fare with the animal slaughter question? “If animal welfare is your only issue, I have total respect for your position and argument,” he notes. “But asking everyone to turn into a vegetarian is an impossible goal. At least today it is, and we need bold solutions to big problems today.”

He adds: “I’m too practical to let perfect be the enemy of the good. Cutting beef consumption in half will save lots of animals, so we’re technically on the same team.” Arentowicz declined to go into specific details about how the company is funded, but offered: “Obviously, our investors are very bullish on our potential.”

So where can we find 50/50 Foods’ blended meat? Restaurants? Supermarkets? Both? On its website, the startup has a binocular-shaped graphic that serves as a future, ahem, vision for its footprint – which seems to be both in retail and foodservice. This is something Arentowicz confirms. “The mission is every menu, every shelf,” he says. “And our timeline is as soon as humanly possible.”

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