By Ariel Grossman, NoCamels -
At a popular Floridian steakhouse, chefs are serving up the latest addition to their mouthwatering meaty menu – a filet mignon that may look and taste like beef, but is in fact made of simple, plant-based ingredients.
The meatless whole cut, created by Israeli startup Chunk Foods, is made using cultured wheat and soy, coconut oil, and natural colors and flavors.
The startup uses a proprietary fermentation technology to mimic the texture, color and taste of traditional meat – and according to Chunk CEO Amos Golan, it’s what sets the company apart from other alternative protein companies.
“We’ve created a product that resembles meat to a much greater extent than anything that’s been out there in the market,” Golan tells NoCamels. “And fermentation is really the ‘secret sauce’ to create these flavors.”
Fermentation is a natural process in which microorganisms naturally transform sugar and starches into products such as carbon dioxide or alcohol.
In the case of Chunk, food grade microorganisms feed on a combination of soy and wheat flour to produce high-protein products within a matter of days.
The rest of the ingredients, as well as iron and Vitamin B12, are added after the fermentation process is completed.
The end result is a meat-free product that packs 25 to 40 grams of protein (depending on the “cut”) but has just half of the sodium and a third of the fat of other alternative proteins, according to Golan.
“Fermentation essentially improves its flavor, and gives it some of the texture and mouth-coating that you would get when you consume meat,” he says.
Chunk also uses fermentation to create its product as it is a safe and reliable process that has been carried out by humans for millennia.
“It’s been used to make many of the foods that people really like eating and drinking – from coffee and cocoa to many hard cheeses and cured meats,” says Golan.
And since fermentation infrastructure already exists at scale, he says that Chunk can produce more of its plant-based meats at a faster pace than competitors who rely on technology that cannot grow as easily.
Chunk is just one of the many startups within Israel’s fast-growing alternative protein industry. And according to the Good Food Institute Israel, the local industry has attracted over $1 billion of investment in the last two years – second only to the US.
These startups include Steakholder Foods, which uses stem cells as bio-ink to 3D print cultivated meat products; Redefine Meat, which uses advanced manufacturing and plant-based ingredients to 3D print a variety of meat-like products; and even alternatives such as SimpliiGood, which uses algae to create vegan schnitzel, among other products.
Unlike many other companies in the alternative protein industry, Chunk’s fermentation process makes it so its whole cuts are not reliant on additives, preservatives or binders to glue their ingredients together.
Golan says that consumers often criticize such products for long and incomprehensible ingredient lists.
“We’re created a product that has the shortest ingredient list in the industry,” he says.
As well as that steakhouse in Florida, Chunk whole cuts are already being served in a handful of restaurants – both vegan and non-vegan – in New York City and Los Angeles.
The startup, whose R&D is based in Tel Aviv and commercial operations in New York, was founded during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, when Golan started experimenting with making plant-based steaks at home.
“When everyone else was making sourdough and following different recipes online, I started working on Chunk,” says Golan, a former agritech and materials science researcher. Prior to founding Chunk, he was part of the innovation team at confectionary giant Ferrero.
Last May, the startup even got the attention of Iron Man himself, American actor Robert Downey Jr., whose climate tech venture capital firm FootPrint Coalition contributed to a $15 million seed funding round.
“The reason we’ve focused on whole cuts is because the average omnivore consumer uses that in different cuisines as an ingredient, as opposed to a [plant-based] burger, which has a single use,” says Golan.
The meat can be pan fried or stewed, he says, with scope for dishes that are very elaborate and ones that are quick and easy to make.
“And as for vegetarians and vegans, we’re trying to offer them a better culinary experience,” Golan says.
“There’s only so many [plant-based] burgers that one can eat.”
