Planetarians, a vegan meat-alternative company based in San Francisco, California, has announced plans to kickstart the commercial production of its whole-cut plant-based protein – which is produced from only two FDA GRAS-recognized ingredients.

Although the plant-based meat market is expected to grow to an impressive $15.7 billion by the year 2027^[1], the sustainability and climate impact of the sector has caused concern. With this in mind, Planetarians was co-founded in 2013 by Aleh Manchuliantsau, Anastasia Tkacheva, and Max Barnthouse and is regarded as a vegan-meat company that produces clean, whole-cut vegan meat alternatives which are fully patented.

Planetarian’s product uses by-products such as spent yeast from commercial fermentation facilities and soy flakes from processes such as vegetable oil extraction. These by-products are then combined and used to create whole cuts of protein that have the flavour and texture of commercial meat; the product contains 21g of protein and 5g of fiber per portion and a significantly lower fat content – reportedly nearing zero^[4].

As per IAMECON^[2] reports, Planetarian products have a carbon footprint that is 9x lower than other leading plant-based meats and almost 50x lower than animal-based meats – each kilogram of Planetarians Vegan Meat reportedly reduces 32 kilograms of carbon dioxide from the environment, which could lead to an overall reduction of up to 100 million tons of CO2 equivalent per year. ^[4]

The lower cost of production for their plant-based product is due to the upcycling of existing ingredients, i.e., industry by-products; however, this was not easy to achieve -"It took 7 years of R&D before we realized that one readily available fermented protein, spent yeast from breweries, could combine with soy flakes and other native plant proteins to deliver a meaty taste and texture at a low cost compared to the alternatives." said Aleh Manchuliantsau, co-founder of Planetarians.

With their pilot facility located in Hayward, California, Planetarians has conducted product trials in educational campuses, restaurants, and catering institutions, focusing on target audiences looking for a nutritious and environmentally friendly product that won’t break the bank. Interestingly, the proposed commercial production facilities of the company are also considerably compact, measuring just over 3000 square feet, a feat that could allow the facility to co-locate with breweries or even other food suppliers.

With growing evidence suggesting that vegan-based meat alternatives are rapidly becoming more favourably viewed by both customers and businesses alike^[3], Planetarians is the sustainable and low-cost answer to a vegan alternative to animal-based meats.

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