USA – Meati Foods, a consumer goods company that provides fungi-based meat alternatives, has officially e opened of its new production facility called Mega Ranch as part of a strategy to become the market leader in meat alternatives by 2025.
The 100,000 square-foot facility was financed by Meati’s US$150 million series C round together with a recent extension round of US$22 million.
The funding round was led by Revolution Growth, as did the last one, together with Rockefeller Capital. The company’s total funding currently amounts to over US$250 million.
Mega Ranch will be a place where Meati can grow, harvest, process and package its products and get them on shelves all around the country. When fully operational, the facility will have the capacity to produce more than 45 million pounds of product.
Meati intends to close out the financial year of 2023 with more than US$50 million in revenues.
The company, like many others, employs fermentation technology and uses mycelium to make products designed to mimic the appearance, flavour and texture of meat products, called meat analogues.
Meati’s Eat Meati product line is already being produced at the Mega Ranch and it currently includes four products; the Classic Cutlet, Crispy Cutlet, Classic Steak and Carne Asada Steak.
This portfolio is made up of the first-ever alternative protein steak as well as chicken analogues.
Tyler Huggins, Meati’s CEO and co-founder, said that while Meati is experimenting with a wide array of prototypes, the company will stick with its four core products while it works towards building a brand and name for itself.
The products are sold through the company’s retail and food service partners, who include Sprouts Farmers Market, Sweetgreen and Birdcall.
Mega Ranch will elevate Meati to a better degree of scale by helping the company forge a path to commercialisation through the grocery store as opposed to the online way they previously used.
Part of the preparation for a large-scale retail launch was the hiring of Scott Tassani as the company’s president, previously employed by General Mills.
They intend to leverage Tassani’s vast experience and expertise in forging partnerships, getting products on shelves, creating and growing new categories, keeping products relevant, and finding mergers and acquisition opportunities.
Meati Foods also revealed plans of launching an even larger facility to be dubbed the Giga Ranch, which will produce hundreds of millions of pounds of meat annually.
The company relays that it is currently laying the groundwork for the Giga Ranch with engineering designs and working to choose a location.
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