Nature’s Fynd, a Chicago startup that’s created a new method for producing meatless and dairy-free foods, revealed its first official products for sale.
The food-tech company, backed by Bill Gates, revealed its Fy Breakfast Bundle, which includes dairy-free cream cheese and meatless breakfast patties. The limited release bundle is available for pre-order for $14.99.
The two products, which are vegan and non-GMO, are the first foods released onto the market by Nature’s Fynd and the first of an expanding breakfast line, the company said.
Founded in 2012 by CEO Thomas Jonas, Nature’s Fynd produces fungi-based protein products, which the company calls Fy, using a fermentation process. The fermentation process is based on a research project at NASA that discovered a way to efficiently grow edible and nutritional fungi protein from microscopic organisms. Producing foods with this method is better for the environment, Nature’s Fynd says. The startup’s method uses less water, land and energy compared to traditional protein sources.
To date, Nature’s Fynd has raised more than $150 million, including a $45 million round in December. Its investors include Oxford Finance, Trinity Capital and Breakthrough Energy Ventures, a VC fund founded by Gates in 2015. Last year, Nature’s Fynd used some of its funding to open a 35,000-square-foot manufacturing facility on the Union Stockyards site on Chicago’s South Side.
The company's product reveal comes shortly after Nature’s Fynd was featured in a CBS 60 Minutes special about Gates and his work to fight climate change. Nature’s Fynd’s new cream cheese and breakfast patties can be seen in the episode.
Nature’s Fynd emerges in the alternative meat industry as other companies have already demonstrated significant success. Impossible Foods, which is based in California and has raised over $1 billion, makes plant-based beef patties and sausage, which are sold in chains like Burger King and Starbucks. Beyond Meat, which is also based in California, went public in 2019, and recently landed a deal with PepsiCo to make plant-based snacks and drinks.
“Using our novel liquid-air surface fermentation technology, we're creating a range of sustainable foods that nourish our bodies and nurture our planet for generations to come,” Jonas said in a statement. “We’ve deeply studied our consumers and we know that Fy’s unique versatility, which delivers great tasting meat and dairy alternatives for every occasion, is highly appealing.”
