Dive Summary:
- Ethan Brown, CEO of plant-based meat startup Beyond Meat, foresees a future, 50 to 100 years from today, where supermarket meat is made entirely out of plant protein.
- The startup is looking break into the $177 billion animal meat market by selling its products in the meat section; Brown says he wants his products to taste and feel the same as meat.
- Beyond Meat, which is backed by Kleiner Perkins and Obvious Corp., has a partnership with Whole Foods, where its plant-based chicken product is currently on sale.
- Beyond Meat is currently working on a beef product made from pea protein and sea salt.
From the article:
"... In contrast to the current fake meat products on supermarket shelves, Beyond Meat is trying to use technology to create food that mimics the taste and feel of eating meat. We’ve got 'OCD; obsessive chicken disorder,' joked Brown, explaining the company is looking to replicate 'the fibrous structure of meat.'
The company is backed by Kleiner Perkins and Obvious Corp, the company behind Twitter. As I wrote in this article earlier this year, Silicon Valley investors have been looking to fund sustainable food innovation. Brown said that Beyond Meat grew 50 percent last quarter. 'If we’re successful, we can be like Tyson or Perdue,' said Brown. ..."