What Impact Will Meat Alternatives Have On The Food Industry?

Food manufacturers are hustling to bring new soy, wheat, and pea-based products into the market, and a few of the start-ups are trying to develop a new type of meal alternative from fungi.

The destiny of meat processing does not entail plants, and companies are concentrating on launching new alternatives. Two such emerging companies are preparing to launch new products. One of those companies is working with culinary experts to ace its steak alternative, which will first be served in the restaurants in Colorado under the very new Meat brand. Another company, Main Roots, is all set to initiate its very first product this year.

The company uses the Japanese fungus Koji, which was traditionally used to make soy sauce and sake to create different types of seafood. Fungi have many benefits over plant-based proteins, and their fibrous texture allows a wide range of styles and cuts of meat. The flavour is also very neutral, removing the need for any masking agent. Additionally, it requires only a tiny amount of land, water, and energy to produce with nutrition packs that match meat and other plants.

Fungi-based meat surpasses plants as they usually lose some of the naturally present nutrients in plant foods. Emergy Foods' and Prime Roots' products exceed the protein level of traditional meat while offering many of the fibres, minerals, and vitamins found in plants.

 Utilising plant protein takes a lot of time to mitigate the consumers' concerns about the ultra-processed ingredients. Educating the consumers on the variance between fungi-based and plant-based meats is also challenging. The FDA recently classified mushrooms and other fungi as plants technically constitute their kingdom different from plants and animals.

Companies such as Emergy Foods are focusing on launching their steaks in the foodservice channel, but they intend to introduce chicken breast down the line. They focus on finding a plant-based protein source high in protein, nutritious, and has a bland or favourable flavour. The primary element to keep in mind is to evaluate how much protein can be produced based on the number of resources put in.