Start-up “Future Farm”
Now there’s fake fish: what does plant-based tuna taste like?
With its plant-based tuna, the start-up “Future Farm” is launching a new product that could revolutionize the market. (icon picture)
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The companies Beyond Burger and Impossible Foods have a firm grip on the plant-based burger market. Now “Future Farm” from Brazil is attacking, with burgers, but also with plant-based fish. The strategy: own technology and lower prices than the competition.
Vegan burgers that taste, smell and look like meat are trending. The “Beyond Burger” from the US company “Beyond Meat” is particularly popular. The meatball from “Beyond Meat” is wonderful to grill: if you bite off, you not only have a kind of meat consistency in your mouth, but also a pink “meat core”. Almost like the original. They are no longer alone on the market. “Impossible Foods” works according to the same concept and the big meat companies also rely on vegan alternatives.
Now there’s a breath of fresh air: Marcos Leta founded the “Future Farm” company in Brazil two years ago. Now he is expanding into the USA and Europe. Its humble mission is nothing less than “to change the way the world feeds itself”. With his plant-based products, he does not want to reach vegetarians and vegans, but those who still eat meat. “The greatest savings in greenhouse gases can be achieved if we can convince as many meat eaters as possible to adopt a plant-based diet,” Leta told the “Handelsblatt”. Brazil is an important test market for this: 93 percent of the 210 million Brazilians eat meat.
The fact that the country is by far the most important exporter of vegetable proteins in the world also speaks in favor of Brazil as a company location. Nowhere else can soy and corn be grown so cheaply. A competitive advantage over the US companies “Beyond Meat” and “Impossible Foods”. Leta thinks the prices for meatless burgers in the US or Europe are too high to quickly win customers, as he tells the Handelsblatt. And that’s exactly where he comes in: he can buy the raw materials for his plant-based products almost a third cheaper than “Beyond Meat”. In addition, he gives the promise for the European market that the products are not genetically modified and verifiably do not come from cleared rainforest areas.
Can vegan fish really taste good?
“Future Farm” is also attractive for investors because they not only develop, but also carry out the production themselves. With their own machines, which they constantly optimize, for the perfect imitation.
Leta’s latest coup: plant-based tuna, with which he wants to conquer the European market. The fake fish consists of soy, pea and chickpea proteins and tastes so unmistakably similar that everyone who eats fish has to ask themselves: Do I actually still need the real tuna? The product gets its “fish” aroma from the addition of microalgae oil, which is also a source of valuable omega-3 fatty acids. “Future Farm” recommends preparing it with corn and vegan mayonnaise. The taste test shows that this product has potential.
Plant-based foods used to be reserved for vegetarians and vegans, but the numbers speak for themselves: the market for meat-free alternatives is expected to be worth more than $85 billion by 2030. Conversely, this means: Plant-based foods have arrived in the mainstream.
This can also be seen in the fact that more and more meat companies are bringing plant-based products onto the market. A good example of this is the Rügenwalder Mühle. They are the market leader in meat alternatives and have even sold more vegan and vegetarian products than meat products this year. Overall, Rügenwalder Mühle increased sales in the vegetarian and vegan segment by 42 percent. Ascending trend.