Whether or not you believe plant-based proteins are healthier for you or a way to save the planet, the one thing we can agree on is that they are not cheap. Over at my local Safeway I can buy a six-pack of Impossible Burger patties (24 oz.) for $15.99, or I can by a 10-pack (40 oz.) of Safeway-branded beef patties for $8.99. For families on tight food budgets, that $7 dollar difference is a huge deal.
Based in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Kernel Mycofoods is on a mission to bridge this price gap and deliver sustainable, healthy, plant-based protein at an affordable price for people around the world. “We started looking at how could we make a product that was comparable without a price that will exclude the emerging markets,” Kernel CFO Miguel Neumann told me last week by video chat.
As Neumann explained to me, there are plenty of markets around the world clamoring for a plant-based protein option, but aren’t able to sell a $7 burger because people there can’t afford. So Kernel turned to fungi.
The basis of Kernel’s product is the Fusarium venenatum strain of fungi, which has already been approved for consumption by regulatory bodies including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and The European Food Safety Authority. Additionally, Kernel says that growing its protein requires less water and land use than beef, chicken or soy, and produces fewer CO2 emissions than raising beef or chicken.
Using precision fermentation, Kernel is able to transform this fungi into a mycoprotein that it says has a higher protein digestibility-corrected amino acid score than beef, soy and wheat gluten. The company isn’t just fermenting fungi, however. It is also using computer vision and artificial intelligence to adjust the fermentation process to achieve different outcomes for its protein. Neumann told me that they have researchers examining each spore on the fungi on a microscopic level. With that information, they can change certain factors in the fermentation process to change something like the protein’s texture.
Kernel isn’t in the business of creating its own line of myco-burgers, however. “There are plenty of companies that are producing a lot of very loyal customers,” Neumann said. “We can not go into a straight fight with them.” Instead, the company will sell its protein to CPG companies for use in plant-based burgers, crackers and other types of consumer products.
Kernel may not want to fight for marketshare with other consumer brands, but it will be facing plenty of competition in the overall mycoprotein space. Fermentation is a hot technology right now, and there are a number of players using the technology to transform fungi into mycoprotein. Unilever is using Enough’s Abunda mycoprotein as an ingredient in plant-based meat from The Vegetarian Butcher brand. Tyson and Kellogg both invested in MycoTechnologies last year. And Better Meat Co. opened up its production facility last month to create its Rhiza mycoprotein.
Neumann said Kernel should be able to launch at scale in January of 2022, at which point the price should drop from its current cost of $3 per kilo to $1 per kilo. As it grows, hopefully the company can continue to bring those prices down so that more markets around the world do indeed have the opportunity to enjoy Kernel’s plant-based protein.
Leave a Reply