For years we’ve been talking about plantbased products as the future of protein. But are mycoprotein products the future of food, not plantbased products? Can they provide a wave of tasty, cost effective altprotein products?
As I mentioned before mycoprotein products are making a real impact on the altprotein scene. The latest addition is Sweden’s Mycorena. They raised Euro24 million Series A funds in March 2022 for a total funding of some USD38m, so this is no seed stage startup. Their Mycorena Innovation and Development centre (MIND) is the largest facility of its kind in Europe and is part of their “fermentation to fork” approach.
An interesting facet to Mycorena’s product range is that they’re producing not just protein from fungi but fat! They claim that this fat acts more like animal fat than plantbased products do so they don’t need to take some sort of mycoprotein/cultivated fat “hybrid” approach. In my mind the hybrid approach is yet to be shown to appeal to consumers who seem to want either animal or non-animal products.
Mycoprotein products also lend themselves to whole cut products as well as ground products like hamburger patties and sausages. As always taste and price will be top of consumers minds as these products come to market.
With a whole range of mycoprotein and hybrid products hitting the market 2022 and 2023 promise to be interesting and exciting years!
