BOULDER, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Meati Foods, the producer of delicious animal-free, whole-food protein made from mushroom root, today announced its newly-opened industrial-scale production facility in Thornton, Colorado, in part financed by its oversubscribed Series C round which brings total funding to date to more than $250 million. Dubbed the ‘Mega Ranch,’ the fully integrated, resource-efficient manufacturing operation is expected to cultivate Meati at an annual rate of tens of millions of pounds by late 2023, making it a producer of animal-free meat at a scale that will match and often exceed that of the United States' largest individual animal-based ranches. The Mega Ranch opening coupled with the oversubscribed round led by Revolution Growth, with the most recent contribution by Rockefeller Capital, position Meati to win in-market and on its road to $1 billion in run-rate sales by 2025.
“Investors and consumers recognize that Meati is a new, differentiated food. They only need to read our simple ingredient list and taste Meati to recognize that this is the cut-through option people have been waiting for – something they absolutely see weekly if not daily on their plates,” said Tyler Huggins, CEO and co-founder of Meati Foods. “Our belief that nature already has the answer to many of today’s challenges allowed us to unlock a new food with Meati at a time when consumers are demanding something different and better. Meati delivers an unparalleled food with its taste, texture, nutrition, and purity, and we’re thrilled to open this first and subsequent phases of the resource-efficient ‘Mega Ranch’ facility to help even more consumers add it to their diets.”
Designed to scale Meati to an omnichannel, national footprint by late 2023, the Mega Ranch is unique in its vertically integrated approach, with the growing, harvesting, processing, and packaging of Meati products under one roof. Able to grow a teaspoon of spores into hundreds of cows’ equivalent of whole-food protein in just a few days, Meati’s proprietary production processes coupled with its unique mushroom root create a nearly infinitely scalable platform. The Eat Meati™ product line is produced at the Mega Ranch and currently includes the Classic Cutlet, Crispy Cutlet, Classic Steak, and Carne Asada Steak. To date, Meati products have repeatedly sold out within minutes of being released online, and consumers have continued to embrace Meati products through the company’s retail and foodservice partners, including Sprouts Farmers Market, Sweetgreen, and Birdcall.
“The next few years will see a seismic shift in how we eat, and Meati’s state-of-the-art, scalable production capabilities coupled with its focus on meeting consumer needs for clean, whole-food protein make it clear they are positioned to lead,” said Fazeela Abdul Rashid, Partner at Revolution Growth and member of the Meati Foods board. “Tyler and the team have a vision for a new food category with pure ingredients and taste that doesn’t compromise. We are excited to continue working with them to reach the next level and bring Meati to more consumers across the U.S.”
Meati's textures and flavors have won the enthusiastic support of some of food's biggest icons, including David Chang (chef and founder of Momofuku and Majordomo Media); Nicolas Jammet and Jonathan Neman (co-founders of Sweetgreen); and Sam Kass (former White House senior policy advisor for nutrition and partner at Acre Venture Partners). Learn more at meati.com.
About Meati Foods and Eat Meati™
Founded in 2017, Meati Foods is working to unlock a more delicious, nutritious, equitable and sustainable food system for everyone. Eat Meati™, the debut product line from Meati Foods, features cutlets and steaks made from mushroom root, a whole-food protein cultivated with a modernized version of ancient and natural processes that have helped preserve Earth's ecosystems for millennia. Eat Meati™ made its early retail debut in July 2022 after multiple months of record sellouts through its direct-to-doorstep online shop. A national omni-channel footprint is planned for late 2023.
