New Israeli startup Chunk Foods develops meat-alternatives. The company has raised $2 million in a pre-seed round led by Kansas firm Stray Dog Capital, Good Seed Ventures, and the MIT-affiliated E14 Fund. Chunk Foods leverages cutting-edge fermentation technology to produce whole-cut plant-based meat products. Stray Dog Capital declares that it is considered a pioneer in the alternative-protein sector and has invested in similar companies such as Beyond Meat, among others.
Chunk Foods joins many Israeli firms developing meat and dairy alternatives. Zero Egg produces an egg alternative made from plants for foodservice and food manufacturers. The company asserts that its product tastes, looks, and functions like a real egg. As for beef substitutes, last August Israel’s Meat-Tech successfully bioprinted a thin, uniform, slaughter-free meat tissue produced from stem cells. And alternative meat company Aleph Farms has an initiative to eventually produce its products on Mars. The program is called Aleph Zero and is intended to produce non-GMO cells anywhere and in any environment.
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These firms provide vegan versions of chicken eggs, beef and dairy products. But this is not just something for vegans. The worldwide production of animal and dairy products has been condemned for years as contributing to global warming and increased pollution. And there are also issues of animal cruelty to be considered.
Countless documentaries and news reports have shown how the waste left behind by all those chickens and cows cause pollution. The animals also release greenhouse gasses. And most of the dairy eggs is not even consumed in its natural form. They are used for anything from yogurts to junk food additives. And the countless chickens and cows spend their lives in factories with some never seeing the light of day.
Quality alternatives which taste just as good will not only be healthier for people to eat, but also have a much smaller environmental impact in their production over the real thing. They will also require much less energy to produce.
Chunk Foods was founded in 2020 by CEO Amos Golan.
Spun out of MIT, Chunk says that it is the first to enable large-scale manufacturing of healthy, realistic whole muscle cut meat alternatives. The company’s first target is beef, and fish, seafood, and poultry are next. Chunk says that its fermentation technology combines novelty and tradition and that it enables the creation of any kind of whole muscle cut texture, nutritional profile, and appearance, with a short and clear ingredient deck.
Chunk also says that its products use just a handful of “healthy, recognizable ingredients. That’s it. No gums, stabilizers, or GMOs are used in our products. We make the food we would like to eat.”
“Consumers expect healthy, nutritious and clean label options for their daily staples like meat and fish. They want their food to be aligned with their values, and they’re no longer willing to make compromises,” said Amos Golan. “Whole muscle cuts of beef such as sirloin, chuck or ribs have been the Holy Grail of alternative meats as they account for about 60% of the beef market in the U.S. We’ve overcome the technological limitations of other approaches by naturally creating delicious and realistic products with many of the attributes of meat, while ensuring a clean and short ingredient list using our novel fermentation technology. We’re excited to make that vision a reality.”
