How is Meati made?
At Meati we believe food should be simple and pure. And of course delicious. That’s why we do everything in house, from the growth of our main ingredient to the creation of our fungi-based meats. We use centuries-old processes combined with modern-day knowledge to craft something downright craveable: a nutrient-rich, sustainable fungi-based meat created in the cleanest way possible.
No.1
NATURAL MYCELIUM
Meati’s main ingredient is a special type of mycelium found in nature. Like a houseplant, we’ve brought our mycelium from nature to grow happily indoors. Growing mycelium indoors means it is pure and unexposed to external elements like pollutants. In fact, every time you eat Meati, you can expect a simple meat substitute of mycelium that’s had no exposure to pollutants, pesticides, antibiotics or growth hormones.
No. 2
grow
Meati’s mycelium is grown indoors in stainless steel tanks, similar to those that brew your favorite beer. We grow the mycelium using only water, sugar, and nutrients. Like a late-night binge on a pint of ice cream, our mycelium eats up all the sugar and nutrients we give it, growing in the process. No need to worry about the sugar, though; it doesn’t end up in our finished product.
No. 3
Harvest
Our mycelium becomes “full-grown” overnight…if you can believe it. In case you didn't know, a cow can’t do that. Once it’s grown, we harvest the mycelium using century-old techniques similar to cheese-making. Huh…we thought we would have more to say, but that was easy. Moving on.
No. 4
DELISH-IFY
Lucky for us (and you!) mycelium naturally mimics muscle tissue, making it easy for our culinary experts to gently form the mycelium into proteins that require teeth. With a perfect blank slate, they then marinate the products with only a handful of natural ingredients to create a delicious fungi-based protein. Our entire process takes less than a day and that’s how we plan to help feed the world.
Let’s Get to the root of it. It's mycelium.
If you’re as curious as we were when we started researching Mycelium, here’s a quick Q&A to get you up to speed.
Is Mycelium a plant?
Technically, mycelium is not a plant, which is why we don’t call Meati a plant-based meat alternative. But it does grow naturally in the environment, can be farmed and has many of the same nutrients as plant-based foods. Taxonomically speaking, mycelium belongs to the kingdom fungi along with yeast and mushrooms.
What is Fungi?
Fungi, the fungalicious kind, are used to make and are even in foods you've likely eaten before! For example, yeast is commonly used to make baked goods, Penicillium fungi is needed to make blue cheeses like Roquefort or Camembert, and Aspergillus oryzae is used to make soy sauce.
What is the difference between Mycelium and mushrooms?
Mushrooms are the fruiting bodies of some fungi. That’s not what we work with. What we’re working with is mycelium, a fibrous network structure that some fungi make and that you likely don’t normally see.
So, is Meati made from mushrooms?
Nope. While mycelium is made by some fungi, not all fungi produce mushrooms. So, Meati is not made from mushrooms.
Why choose Mycelium?
Meati’s mycelium has it all so you never have to compromise. Our mycelium is naturally tasty with a meaty texture, meaning our products are minimally processed and contain few ingredients. Our mycelium is also a complete protein, high in fiber and contains vitamins and minerals. Not to mention, our mycelium is naturally fast-growing, so we can produce a lot of protein with a tiny environmental footprint. So, the better question probably is...why not choose Meati's mycelium?
