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Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

protein

The Future of Protein Might be ‘Gas Fermentation,’ or Growing Food Out of Thin Air

We know that relying on animals — especially methane-producing cows — for the bulk of our protein is unsustainable. But creating protein alternatives in labs or out of plants can also have a significant environmental cost.

What about if we nixed the agricultural bits altogether and just made protein out naturally occuring elements in the air around us? Sounds like science fiction, but Finnish company Solar Foods is working to do just that. The company is creating a new platform for food production using two inputs: air and electricity.

Solar Foods’ technology captures CO2 and water from the air and introduces them to genetically modified bacteria, which form single-celled proteins the company calls ‘Solein.’

Founded in 2017, Solar Foods came about when its CEO Pasi Vainikka, who was in charge of the largest renewable energy resource program in Finland, wanted to develop new technology to push the world towards carbon neutrality. He discovered that one big way to sequester carbon was by making it into food.

As Vainikka explained it, their technology is similar to what Impossible Foods is doing to create its heme or how Perfect Day is making milk without cows. Only instead of feeding sugar solutions to the microbes, as those two startups are doing, Solar Foods feeds them carbon dioxide and hydrogen extracted from the air.

Motif Ingredients and Sustainable Bioproducts are two other companies using microbes to spin out protein, though they also don’t rely on CO2 as the main input. “We are a branch parallel to [them],” said Vainikka. “Not sugar fermentation, but gas fermentation.”

Not the sexiest of names, admittedly. For the less nerdy folks, though, Vainikka said he also calls their process “making food from air.” In fact, visit the Solar Foods lab in Finland and you (yes, you) could actually breathe into their device and make protein.

By disconnecting completely from agriculture, animal and otherwise, Solar Foods can produce protein with a negligable environmental footprint. As it’s not reliant on irrigation, feed, or weather, Solar Foods’ production capacity is also pretty much indefinite.

The technology is way beyond the theoretical stage. As of now, Solar Foods can produce one kilogram of protein per day. The company is also in the early stages of constructing a full-scale factory, filing for patents on their organisms, and starting food application tests.

It raised €2 million (~$2,273,000) in funding from Lifeline Ventures last year. In terms of timing, the company plans to have a global commercial launch of Solein in 2021 and, by 2022, is hoping to scale up to produce enough protein for 50 million meals per year.

Vainikka may have established Solar Foods to make the Earth carbon neutral, but one of the main applications for his technology is actually space travel. The company is working with the European Space Agency to make a prototype device which could theoretically be used to sustain astronauts on a mission to Mars.

Launching their technology into outer space makes things a lot more complicated for Solar Foods. To function on a spacecraft their protein has to last seven years, according to Vainikka. Since the contained environment of a spaceship is a closed loop, the platform will also have to function off of recirculated water and CO2 sourced from inside the ship, as well as recycled energy. “We need super efficient circulation of these factors,” explained Vainikka.

Here on Earth, Vainikka hasn’t yet decided on the best application for Solein. It might be used in a meal replacement product à la Soylent, or even in the Impossible burger as a more sustainable alternative to soy. He told us that Solar Foods will be a protein supplier for food producers and isn’t looking to create their own branded consumer goods.

Photo: Kiverdi.

Gas fermentation may sound kind of out there, but actually Solar Foods is part of a nascent group of startups using carbon dioxide and electricity to make food. Based in San Francisco, Kiverdi is using microbes to upcycle CO2 into edible products like palm oils and proteins. Nearby, Novo Nutrients is leveraging a similar technology to turn CO2 into feed for aquaculture farms. In the U.K., Deep Branch Biotechnology is also focused on animal feed, making single cell proteins out of CO2 in industrial waste gas. Vainikka also pointed out a few university research groups, including ones in Ghent and Nottingham, U.K., which are working on a similar technology.

While gas fermentation makes a lot of sense for space travel, I could also see it having a significant environmental effect here on Earth. Demand for protein is skyrocketing: ResearchandMarkets.com projects that the global protein market will grow from $49.8 billion in 2019 to $70.7 billion in 2025. The world’s population is also projected to hit almost 10 billion by 2050. Combine those, and it means we’ll need to find protein wherever we can — especially if it can replace less sustainable ingredients (like meat) and sequester carbon in the process.

Clara Foods Raises Series B, Partners with Ingredion to Launch Animal-Free Egg Whites

Today Clara Foods, a startup using cellular agriculture to develop animal-free proteins, announced it has raised a Series B funding round. The round was led by ingredients corporation Ingredion with participation from Hemisphere Ventures, SOS Ventures and B37. The amount of funding was not disclosed.

Based in San Francisco, Clara Foods has been working to create animal proteins without the animals. They use a similar technology to Perfect Day or New Culture, feeding sugar to genetically engineered yeast to “ferment” protein in various forms. So far, Clara Foods has been focused on creating egg whites to use as vegan alternatives in baking.

Under the agreement, Ingredion will work with Clara Foods to distribute and market multiple animal-free proteins means to be used as egg substitutes.

Photo: Meringues made with animal-free egg whites from Clara Foods.

This partnership gives a big leg up to Clara Foods. The startup has been developing its chicken-less egg whites since 2014. When I visited the Clara Foods team a few months ago at the Winter Fancy Food Show, they told me it would likely still be a while before they brought a product to market. Now, the San Francisco Chronicle reports that their “egg” proteins could be available as soon as 2020.

Clara Foods’ partnership with Ingredion is a smart way for them to leverage the massive ingredient provider’s manufacturing capabilities, supply chain, and retail partnerships to get to market much more quickly. Perfect Day made a similar strategic partnership last year when they teamed up with ADM to accelerate production of their animal-free whey.

This is also a smart move on Ingredion’s part. The ingredient supplier has had its eye on the vegan protein space for a while. In fact, its investment in Clara Foods comes months after Ingredion committed to investing $140 million in plant-based proteins. True, Clara Foods’ proteins are made through fermentation, not from plants, but still: Ingredion knows that alternative proteins are a hot investment opportunity, and it’s making moves.

In its press release Clara Foods stated that it had raised a $15 million Series A in 2016. (Though Crunchbase reports that the startup’s total funding — prior to the Series B — was only $3.5 million.) In addition to jumpstarting manufacturing, Clara Foods will also use its new funding to expand beyond egg proteins and develop other animal-free products.

Maple Leaf Foods to Build the Largest Plant-Based Protein Factory in North America

Today Maple Leaf Foods, a Canadian packaged meat company and owner of vegan food brands Lightlife and Field Roast, announced plans to build a $310 million plant-based protein factory in Shelbyville, Indiana. According to the press release, it will be the largest facility of its kind in North America.

The new facility will apparently double Maple Leaf Foods’ production capacity, allowing them to make lots more tempeh, vegan sausages and burgers. Especially burgers: earlier this year Lightlife introduced a “bloody” plant-based burger that looks an awful lot like Beyond Meat’s patties. The new burger was an attempt by Maple Leaf to capitalize off rising demand for meat-like meat alternatives from startups like Beyond and also Impossible Foods.

But startups aren’t the only ones getting into the plant-based protein space. Massive food corporations like Nestlé and Tyson are also launching meat alternatives meant to cook, look, and taste like the real thing. Interestingly, Maple Leaf, like Tyson, is chiefly a consumer packaged meats company, though both are investing heavily in plant-based alternatives.

Construction on Maple Leaf’s new facility is expected to start later this spring, with production to start at the end of 2020.

This new facility is a smart move on the part of Maple Leaf. If the current trend in plant-based eating holds true, and all signs indicate that it will, then the new factory will help the company keep up with growing demand for meat alternatives. With increased capacity, it will also have more resources to develop newer, better-tasting plant-based meats, like, say, vegan ground beef or meatier sausages. In short, the new facility could give Maple Leaf a much-needed edge over competitors like Nestlé, Beyond, Tyson, and Impossible, which has plans to move into retail at some point this year.

Forget Coffee Pods — This Argentinian Company is Making Home Protein Pods

As a planet, we’re experiencing something of a protein frenzy right now. Whether it’s made of meat or plants, we just can’t get enough of the stuff.

An Argentinian company called Enye Technologies is trying to help feed this protein craze with microfungus, the main ingredient in plant-based meat company Quorn. They have developed a way to grow mycelia, or delicate fungus filaments, to make edible protein chunks which the company calls “Kernels.” The kernels apparently have a texture similar to tuna and a neutral flavor.

According to FoodNavigator, EnyeTech will have a two-sided go-to-market approach for its Kernels. It will license out its protein-growing technology to food companies looking for cheap protein. More interestingly, it will also build a kitchen appliance which will allow customers to grow 300g of microfungus protein per day using a process not unlike making a Nespresso drink.

Yes, a Nespresso for protein.

The aforementioned Food Navigator article noted that the company plans to launch their Kernel technology at CES in January 2020, though they didn’t specify if that’s when they’ll launch the protein tech alone or the full-fledged consumer appliance. They haven’t disclosed pricing details for the appliance or the protein pods, but Enye Tech is expecting to sell Kernel to foodservice partners for $2 per kilo.

As of now, there are too many question marks to know if this device could actually be viable. Is the appliance affordable? How do consumers order more protein pods? Is the protein-making process really as easy as just popping in a pod? Does the Kernel protein actually taste good?

But the biggest question of all is whether making your own protein at home is actually worth it. In an age where more and more appliances are vying for our countertop, I’m not sure that many consumers will make room for a machine that only makes protein chunks. And when there are so many appealing plant-based options you can easily buy at the grocery store, does anyone actually want to go through the added trouble of growing their own? However, we are headed towards an era of cooking convergence; maybe Enye Tech would fare better if they incorporated their technology into another countertop appliance?

Right now, this technology seems like it would have a pretty niche audience: namely, people who love doing things like brewing their own beer and are also pretty environmentally conscious. I have a hard time envisioning a future where everyone casually grows their own protein for dinner. When we head into space, it might be a different story.

Singapore to Invest $535 million in R&D, including Cultured Meat and Robots

Cell-based meat is about to get another big shot in the arm.

Yesterday the National Research Foundation (NRF) of Singapore announced the RIE2020 plan, which will allocate S$724 million ($535 million) to boost the city-state’s economy and to bolster R&D efforts in cell therapy manufacturing, digital technology (like AI and robotics), and sustainable urban food production.

Up to S$144 million (~$106 million) of the funds in RIE2020 will be allocated to the new Singapore Food Story R&D program, which will focus on urban agriculture, cultured meat, and microbial protein production. This isn’t super surprising, since we recently made the prediction that cell-based meat will debut in Asia first, thanks to more flexible government regulation and high consumer interest.

In fact, there’s already at least one cultured meat company (that we know of) operating out of Singapore. Shiok Meats is developing cell-based crustaceans and just became the first clean meat company to be accepted into the Y Combinator accelerator program. Hopefully this influx of funds from the government will help cell-based meat companies scale up and become more affordable more quickly.

Singapore recently announced a goal to produce 30 percent of its own food by 2030. Growing meat in labs is a good place to start. Scientists are apparently also working on breeding fast-growing, disease-resistant tilapia that can survive in Singapore’s brackish water, and figuring out ways to use microbes to grow protein.

There were far fewer details on what type of robotics and automation Singapore will be using its new funds to develop, but hopefully some of it will be related to the food industry. Maybe food delivery robots? Articulating arms to cook burgers or make lattes? Self-driving food running bots? There’s a lot of potential.

If you’re curious about the future of food robotics, join us for ArticulATE on April 16th! We’ll have executives from Google Brain, Sony, CafeX, Albertson’s, and lots more discussing how automation will shape the way we discover, cook, and consume food. It’ll be a really fun and engaging summit — tickets are on sale here.

Ÿnsect Raises €110M to Build the World’s Largest Insect Farm (to Help Feed Fish)

Ÿnsect, a Paris-based company that farms insects for protein used in fish and pet food as well as fertilizer, announced today that it has raised a €110 million (~$124M USD) Series C round led by Astanor Ventures. This brings the total amount raised by Ÿnsect to $149.5 million.

The news comes via EU-Startups, which says that Ÿnsect will use the money to build the world’s biggest insect farm in Amiens Metropole, Northern France, which will eventually produce 20,000 tons of protein year.

When we talk about bug-based protein, we often talk about crickets, which are a source of easily renewable protein for baking flour or even workout supplements. Ÿnsect, however focuses on Molitor larvae, or mealworms.

One of the ways those mealworms will be put to use is as fish feed. Global demand for seafood has doubled in the past 50 years and continues to increase. Currently, roughly half of the seafood eaten worldwide comes from farmed fish, and that number is expected to hit 62 percent by 2030.

However, the food currently used to raise those farmed fish is… other fish in the form of fishmeal. A 2017 study from the University of British Columbia found that 90 percent of that fishmeal (roughly 18 million tons) is suitable for human consumption. Replacing fishmeal with insect feed like that made by Ÿnsect could help ease the stress on fish stocks, especially when combined with computer vision tech like Aquabyte’s to reduce overfeeding.

These efforts could in turn prolong our ability to savor salmon, at least until we’re able to make lab-grown fish.

Three Companies Feeding the Global Protein Frenzy with Microbes, Air, and Yeast

With the population set to skyrocket to over 9 billion by 2050, companies are scrambling to find new ways to feed our demand for protein in a sustainable (read: non-animal-based) way.

Many are turning to plants, transforming them into everything from burgers to yogurt to scrambled eggs. But when it comes to protein, there are several companies thinking outside the plant kingdom and turning to surprising sources to create these energy-packed building blocks:

Microbes

Sustainable Bioproducts has developed fermentation technology based off of their studies of the extremophile microbes (which can thrive even in, er, extreme conditions) in Yellowstone’s volcanic springs. The company’s scientists replicate the microbes in labs and feed them starches and glycerin. Out comes protein. The microbes’ output is meant to be a versatile building block — it can be savory or sweet, liquid or powder — which can be used to make meat or dairy alternatives.

The protein may come from a lab, but Sustainable Bioproduct’s technology is very different than cellular agriculture (the science behind cell-based meat), which uses animal tissue.

Earlier this week, the Chicago-based company announced a $33 million Series A funding round, led by Silicon Valley-based venture fund 1955 Capital with participation from the venture arms of Archer Daniels Midland and Danone, a climate-focused tech fund backed by Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, and others. But don’t rush out to purchase microbe protein just yet — according to the Wall Street Journal we’re still a few years away from sampling Sustainable Bioproducts’ protein.

Yeast

Similar to Sustainable Bioproducts, Perfect Day uses a sort of fermentation process (feeding sugar to genetically modified yeast and bacteria) to create protein. Only instead of making a versatile building block, they’re focused on two very specific proteins: casein and whey, which are two main “ingredients” that make milk taste — and function — like milk.

Combined, the two create a cow-free dairy product to be used to make everything from cheese to yogurt to ice cream. In 2017, Perfect Day pivoted from a B2C to a B2B model, and at the end of last year, the startup partnered with Archer Daniels Midland to scale up the implementation of their technology. Their first product will be whey protein, slated to come to market in the next few years.

Image Credit: JAA TÄMÄ KUVA

Thin Air (sort of)

Before founding Finnish company Solar Foods, researchers from Lappeenranta University of Technology and the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland created a single cell protein in a lab using only water, electricity, carbon dioxide, and small organisms in the environment.

Solar Foods recently snagged €2 million (~$2,273,000) in funding from Lifeline Ventures, and is working with the European Space Agency to create a bioreactor that can make food in outer space to feed colonies on Mars. On Earth, the bioreactors could be a new food source that doesn’t put stress on our existing systems.

We don’t know exactly what Solar Food’s protein could be used for (Meat alternatives? Protein shakes? Soylent-like complete meals?), but the company has indicated it expects commercial protein production to start by 2021.

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No question — the concept of making protein out of microbes or literal air is fascinating. But as with cell-based meat, I have to wonder about the energy costs — and the cost costs. How much energy does it take to run these new protein sources? And how long will it take before creating protein out of these sources is cost-competitive with making protein from plants?

Of course, if climate change severely reduces agricultural input, as some are predicting it will, then growing soy and wheat might be a lot trickier, and we might have to turn to making protein from the air, extremophile microbes, and animal tissue in a lab. But in the nearer term, these technologies have the potential to feed areas that don’t have access to legitimately delicious plant-based foods — or are struggling to produce enough food, such as communities affected by famine or drought.

It’ll likely be a while before we see (or taste) this technology in our homes or on our grocery shelves. Until then, we’ll have to feed our hunger for sustainable protein with plants. Good thing there are plenty of options.

Israeli Grad Students Develop Algae-Enriched Falafel to Compete with Meat

Not to be too apocalyptic here, but the world is poised for a global protein shortage. There will be 9.8 billion people on the planet by 2050, and finding a way to feed them all — despite finite land and water resources — will be quite the challenge.

But a group of students in Israel thinks that there’s a natural solution to the impending protein crisis: algae.

Grad students at the Biotechnology and Food Engineering Faculty at Israel’s Technion-Israel Institute of Technology have developed a new type of falafel enriched with algae. Called Algalafel (get it?), the fried chickpea balls contain spirulina, a blue-green algae with high protein content.

The students won first prize at the EIT Food Project (European Knowledge and Innovation Community) at Technion. Eventually, the students want to market their new falafel, probably in ready-to-eat frozen form.

According to Time of Isreal, the students decided to make an algae-enriched falafel for environmental reasons. The FAO reports that meat consumption, spurred by increased global demand for protein, is slated to increase steadily over the next few decades, putting increased pressure on the environment and causing more carbon emissions.

But the traditional ingredients in falafel — chickpeas, onions, and flour — are already meat-free. And chickpeas are already a source of protein. In fact, InnovoPro, also based in Israel, recently raised $4.25 million for chickpea-based protein powder. So why go to the trouble of adding algae to the mix?

Firstly, it’s super high in protein. While chickpeas are about 20 percent protein, according to the students behind Algalafel, spirulina is a whopping 60 percent in its dry state. It’s also a complete protein, meaning it contains all eight essential amino acids that your body can’t produce on its own.

Additionally, while chickpeas may be more environmentally friendly than, say, beef or soy, they still require land and water to grow. Spirulina doesn’t require land, it can be harvested year-round, and it grows extremely quickly. It does need water in which to grow, but not much. In fact, it’s so easy to grow that it’s been suggested by NASA as a dietary staple for astronauts.

Up until now algae like spirulina has been relegated to trendy health foods like green juice, but with the rise in demand for plant-based protein it’s poised to enter the mainstream. Recently we’ve seen algae pop up in more and more food applications, from New Wave Foods‘ plant-based shrimp to bread made of seaweed. San Diego-based company Triton makes algae for a wide range of protein-rich food applications, including milk and meat alternatives.

Israel is becoming quite the hotbed of innovation in the meat alternative space. It’s the home of several cell-based meat companies, one of which — Aleph Farms — actually partnered with Technion to help develop its cultured steak.

Down the road, I expect we’ll see algae popping up in more and more food applications, specifically in the meat alternative space. And if we want to have a prayer of feeding the world over the next few decades, we’ll have to get started soon.

Unilever Buys the Vegetarian Butcher, Big Food Continues Plant-Based Investment

News broke yesterday that consumer goods giant Unilever will acquire the Vegetarian Butcher, a Dutch company that makes plant-based meats (h/t Bloomberg). Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Vegetarian Butcher meat substitutes like Vegan NoChicken Shwarma and Vegan Smokey Hotdog out of soy protein, sunflower oil, and flavorings. Its products are currently available in over 4,000 locations in 17 countries, including the Netherlands, Japan, and the U.K. (As of now, they’re not available in the U.S.)

As a region, Europe is a hotbed of vegan protein innovation. Its plant protein market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 7.1 percent until 2023. It’s also considered the largest market for meat substitutes, accounting for over 39 percent of global sales in 2017. So it makes sense that Big Food companies, like Unilever, are taking notice and acquiring smaller vegan food brands to diversify their portfolio and capture some of this booming market.

Here are a few notable investments/acquisitions:

No wonder. As more and more consumers — led by millennials and Gen Z — shift from meat-heavy diets to more flexitarian ones, the demand for plant-based protein is skyrocketing. In a report commissioned by the Good Food Institute, research firm Nielsen showed that retail sales of plant-based foods have grown 17 percent in the past year, reaching $3.7 billion. The report estimated that the total plant-based retail market is worth roughly $4.1 billion.

Big Foods’ involvement in the plant-based food market could help mitigate widespread production issues. As consumer interest in vegan foods rises, smaller producers are struggling to keep up with demand. With newfound access to the manufacturing systems and supply chains of major food producers and distributors, plant-based meat companies can hopefully have an easier time feeding our hunger for vegan protein.

Which likely means there’ll be a lot more Vegan NoChicken Teriyaki making its way onto flexitarians’ plates.

InnovoPro Raises $4.25M to Bulk Up its Chickpea Protein

You’re hard-pressed to find a space undergoing more innovation right now than protein. Long gone are the days of steak and eggs being the best way to protein up. In addition to soy, whey, wheat, pea and even cricket-based protein varietals, there is also chickpeas.

Israel-based InnovoPro announced yesterday that it has raised a $4.25 million Series A funding round to power up production of its vegan chickpea protein powder. The round was led by Migros, Switzerland’s largest retailer, and Erel Margalit of Jerusalem Venture Partners.

InnovoPro says that its product, CP-Pro 70 chickpea protein, is Non-GMO, is not listed as an allergen, and is soy, dairy and gluten-free. The company also says its product can be used in a variety of hot or cold applications like egg-free mayonnaise, vegan ice cream, or vegan burgers.

Getting more protein in your diet can be fraught with ethical and environmental hurdles. Meat consumption isn’t great for the planet, while soy, almond and whey derivatives have their own negative environmental impacts as well. InnovoPro says that its production of chickpea protein “is green, clean and eco-friendly.” (It also doesn’t contain, you know, insects, which might be a turn off for some many people.)

Regardless of whether that eco claim turns out to be completely true, InnovoPro is hitting the market at a good time. Plant-based food sales grew more than 20 percent over the past year, hitting $3.3 billion. In addition to the environmental and health reasons people may have moving to more of a plant-based diet, the plant-based products themselves have also gotten more palatable and delicious. Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods both make an excellent, plant-based “burger,” Seattle Food Tech creates a convincing “chicken nugget” made from wheat protein, and Exo makes a protein bar made from crickets.

In addition to competition from other forms of protein, InnovoPro will need to fend off other established rivals in the same space, as Nutriati and ProEarth are already in the the chikpea protein biz.

Can InnovoPro carve out it’s own market amidst all this competition? We’ll know soon enough as the first products made with InnovoPro’s protein will hit the market next year.

Trendwatch: Is 2019 the Year We Move Beyond Traditional Meat?

Consumption of beef and chicken was estimated to hit a record high this year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. But traditional meat’s time at the top of the proverbial food chain may be nearing an end, if two new 2019 prediction pieces are to be believed.

Grocery giant, Kroger, released its Top Food Trends for 2019, and listed plant-based foods as a trend to watch. Granted, this list appears to mainly be a glorified advertisement for Kroger’s line of branded products disguised as a listicle. But even if it does come from a more mercenary place, it indicates that Kroger is putting some of its marketing and product dollars into plant-based alternatives. Which makes sense, given what we’ve been tracking here at The Spoon.

Sales of plant-based milks are on the rise, while traditional milk sales have declined. And on the meat side, we’ve seen makers of plant-based meat alternatives like Beyond Meat struggle to keep up with demand and bring on additional production capacity. Meanwhile, Impossible foods, maker of that eponymous burger, has exploded on the restaurant scene, and is now available in 3,000 locations, up from just 40 in 2017. Even White Castle is rolling the heme burger out to all its locations nationwide.

Speaking of restaurants, food and restaurant consulting firm Baum + Whiteman (B+W) released its own set of 2019 predictions for the restaurant industry this week, and among their takes is a boom in lab-grown “motherless meat” (yet another name for the nascent technology).

B+W thinks “lab-grown protein is set to explode in popularity through 2019,” which is probably overly ambitious. JUST is supposed to bring its cultured meat to market by the end of this year, and Finless Foods its fake fish by the end of next year, but The Spoon’s Catherine Lamb, who follows this industry closely, doesn’t think lab-grown meat will become a thing in restaurants until 2020 out at the earliest based on her extensive reporting.

Predictions are easy to make, and hard to make accurately. But I thought it worth pointing out that two different trend lists from two different parts of the food industry have listed alterna-meats on their trends to watch next year. ‘Tis the season for these types of prediction lists to roll out, and I predict (see what I did there?) that we’ll be seeing alternative proteins pop up on a lot of them.

Tyson Is Trying (Successfully) to Take Over the Protein Market. Is That a Bad Thing?

Last week, food traceability company FoodLogiQ announced that protein giant Tyson Foods will use its tech to improve food safety and increase transparency.

Tyson, which produces roughly one out of every five pounds of beef, chicken, and pork consumed in the U.S., plans to use FoodLogiQ’s tech to streamline supplier management and track their product throughout the supply chain. This could be valuable in the case of a recall of a contaminated product, but it’s also a useful branding tool for them in the age when people want to know everything about their chicken, from where it was raised to whether or not it had many friends.

This move in and of itself isn’t surprising, or even that remarkable. Tyson Foods is also an investor in FoodLogiQ and is already working with the Durham, North Carolina-based startup on their blockchain for food pilot. But it does illustrate Tyson’s mission to dominate the protein market throughout the supply chain.

Clearly, they’re doing pretty well. Not only does the corporation produce more meat than anyone else, they’ve also been investing pretty heavily in plant-based meat alternatives and cultured meat companies. This May, they led a $2.2 million seed round for Israeli clean meat company Future Meat just a few months after making an undisclosed investment in cultured meat company Memphis Meats. Tyson also nabbed a 5 percent stake in plant-based protein company Beyond Meat in 2016, and made a follow-up investment the next year.

Tyson Ventures CFO Tom Mastrobuoni shed some light on this investment strategy at the Smart Kitchen Europe in Dublin this June: “We’re on to disruption now,” he told the audience. “Some of the startups we’re investing in are out to get us.”

Investing in their competition is a smart move for Tyson. By diversifying their company, they’re hedging their bets; now and in the future, they want to be seen as a company that was on the cutting edge, not lagging behind. And as demand for plant-based protein grows, along with interest in forthcoming “clean meat,” their new investment strategy is getting them kudos and a ton of (chiefly positive) press.

Beyond Meat’s plant-based sausage patties.

Despite the buzz they’ve been generating about their alterna-meat investments, Tyson clearly isn’t done with its carnivorous ways. Last week they acquired meat supplier Keystone Foods — who most notably sold chicken for McDonald’s nuggets — for $2.1 billion.

On one hand, as Food Dive pointed out, this is a no-brainer. After all, Tyson Foods is known, first and foremost, for chicken production. Acquiring a company which supplies chicken to the second largest fast-food chain in the world makes sense. But it clearly illustrates that they’re not looking solely to alterna-meats for the future. Buying Keystone Foods is another step in Tyson’s journey to become the reigning global protein power; it seems like the company doesn’t particularly care which type of protein(s) that includes.

A logical investment for Tyson would be Seattle Food Tech, a startup working to industrialize the plant-based meat industry so that meat alternatives can be made at cheaply and at a large scale. We broke the news in April that the company had raised a $1 million seed round, and they were one of TechCrunch’s 10 favorite startups from the latest Y Combinator batch. They’re still pretty small-scale right now, but that would probably mean Tyson could get in at a decent price, and provide Seattle Food Tech with a way to scale its manufacturing process.

If we want to know what Tyson will do next, look to the consumer. As interest in food delivery, smart kitchen appliances, and food waste repurposing grows, Tyson has also started to invest in those spaces. Consumers have a growing interest in plant-based protein, but they’re also eating more meat than ever before. As long as people want chicken nuggets from, well, chickens, Tyson will give it to them.

Their “throw it at a wall and see what sticks” approach isn’t a bad one. In fact, their willingness to experiment and invest in newer companies — especially ones that seem to compete with them directly — is admirable, and displays some serious agility for such a large company.

It’s also unique. A few of Tyson’s competitors are also widening their scope to include meat alternatives, though none quite so thoroughly. Most notable is Cargill, which is the third-largest meat producer in the U.S., also invested in Memphis Meats. The fourth and fifth largest meat producers, Smithfield (which was acquired by the largest pork producer in China in 2013) and Hormel Foods have made no significant investment in alternative meat companies.

Tyson, which is the largest meat producer in the country, is also the one willing to experiment the most and invest in a wide range of their competitors. I think that their ability to keep a finger on the pulse of consumer trends — and then take action to get in on them — will keep them on top.

If you want to hear CFO of Tyson Ventures Tom Mastrobuoni speak more about Big Food investment strategy, join us at the Smart Kitchen Summit in Seattle on October 8-9th! Get your tickets here.