Better Meat Co Raises $8 million for Meat/Veg Blends

The Better Meat Co. wants to reduce consumption of animal products. But rather than coming at the problem with an all or nothing approach, the company instead has pinned its hopes to incremental change on the part of both large meat producers and consumers alike.

The ingredient company announced yesterday the close of $8.1 million in funding, bringing its total capital raised to-date to $9.7 million, co-led by Greenlight Capital and Green Circle Foodtech Ventures, the latter a newly launched venture arm of Green Circle Capital Partners. Johnsonville Holdings, parent company of Johnsonville Sausage, and Lever VC both also took part. As part of the deal, Stu Strumwasser, Managing Director of Green Circle Capital, will join the company’s board.

Founded in 2018, The Better Meat Co. has the goal of “helping major protein companies reduce their footprint on the planet,” CEO Paul Shapiro said. The company offers proprietary plant-based, allergen-friendly, non-GMO ingredient blends of peas, algae, sunflower and bamboo that can be added to fish, crab, chicken, beef, turkey or pork products.

Shapiro plans to use the funding, in part, to hire new staff to add to his 12 person team and finish building a 13,000 square foot factory in Sacramento, Calif. to reduce costs and scale faster.

The company already provides the formulation and ingredients for Perdue’s Chicken Plus patties, tenders, and nuggets, all of which are comprised of chicken and plant-based ingredients blended together. The line is already sold in over 7,000 stores and was, ironically, voted “best chicken nugget” by Food Network in 2020.

The name “Plus” speaks to The Better Meat Co’s point of differentiation from what Shapiro calls “the F-word:” fillers made of cheap ingredients with little nutritional value. Products using The Better Meat Co’s ingredient blends not only contain the same or more protein as their meat counterparts, but also less saturated fat and cholesterol, fewer calories and more fiber.

“Rather than thinking about it as less meat, think of it as more plant,” Shapiro said. “You’re getting the best of both worlds.”

Despite the buzz around plant-based meats, the company has found that many consumers are still less likely to purchase a plant-based item than to make incremental changes — and that’s still dependent on price and taste remaining constant. In addition, there are scores of consumers who are brand loyal, so The Better Meat Co’s goal is to help those established brands..

Also, by partnering with large, established companies who have retailer relationships in place, Shapiro said, The Better Meat Co can quickly get products made with its ingredient formulations into more stores and consumers’ hands — often at a more affordable price. While that does mean more revenue for the company, for Shapiro it’s also a means of making a bigger impact faster. Though many sustainability focused companies might see “big meat” as the enemy, for Shapiro they are a solid partner in order to make an impact.

“Rather than trying to compete against [the major meat companies] and take share from them, we are trying to work with them to do better,” Shapiro said. “Our proposition to them is that they can do [this] while also creating really great products.”