Powered by Mycelium: Ecovative Puts Additional $15M into MyForest Foods Subsidiary

MyForest Foods, maker of plant-based, mycelium-grown bacon alternative MyBacon, announced yesterday it has added an additional $15 million in capital to accelerate retail and foodservice distribution across the East Coast and appointed a new CEO.

The New York-based startup, formerly known as Atlast Foods, spun out from mycelium technology company Ecovative in 2020 in an effort to shake up the highly saturated plant-based meat space. The brand utilizes mycelium, an ingredient made from mushroom root, to grow nutrient-rich fibers that “[replicate] the textures and mouthfeel of meat” while using a fraction of the land, water and carbon required for conventional pork production.

The capital comes out of Ecovative’s own $30 million funding round, also announced yesterday, with the mycelium maker stating it raised that capital, in part, to “reinvest” in MyForest. The remainder of the $30 million will be used for Ecovative’s sustainable textile and foam products efforts.

With the plant-based meat category at a “unique inflection point,” MyForest Foods board member and Stonyfield Farm co-founder Gary Hersberg said in a press release that the new funding will help the brand expand its market presence, attract new retailers and educate consumers about the “power of mycelium.”

The brand’s MyBacon product is now commercially available in over 100 stores including multiple Fairway Market and Gourmet Garage store locations throughout Manhattan, as well as assorted independent retailers and co-ops.

To support its next growth phase, MyForest has also onboarded industry veteran Greg Shewchuk as its new CEO. Eben Bayer, the company’s co-founder and former CEO, will remain chairman of the board and support the team’s “continued operational expansion,” according to a press release.

“MyForest Foods was founded by a team of innovators with a passion for growing mycelium, an insight into how to grow whole-cut meats and a vision to eliminate factory farming,” said Bayer in the release. “Having proved the viability and consumer demand for our flagship MyBacon product, now is the optimal time to bring on an experienced industry leader as we move to commercial scale.”

Most recently, Shewchuk served as CEO of the food allergy prevention company SpoonfulONE, which was acquired under his tenure by Nestlé in 2022. Additionally, he previously held senior marketing, innovation and leadership positions at Campbell Soup Company, Mondelez International, Cadbury Schweppes PLC and Unilever.

In his new role, Shewchuk plans to double down on MyForest’s marketing and sales functions to take the company to the next level to “create a healthier, tastier, more sustainable world,” according to the release.

Driving the company’s growth will be no small feat – despite significant gains in recent years, mass-market adoption of plant-based meat remains limited by taste and pricing-related challenges, according to the Good Food Institute’s recent State of the Industry report. Last year, plant-based meat sales were down slightly by 1% while unit sales were down 8%. Citing market conditions, some bacon makers are bowing out, with meat company JBS shuttering its Planterra Foods (which produced several bacon SKUs) last October.

In July, fellow mycelium-meat maker Meati announced the addition of another $150 million to its war chest, which will go toward expanding production capacity and increasing accessibility to its mushroom root alternative meat product. There are also other competitors in the alt-bacon set, including investor-backed Hooray Foods which recently had its plant-based bacon added to Veggie Grill menus in all locations.

Aside from expanding its distribution footprint, MyForest is slated to bring its second product, MyJerky, to market later this year. Derived from the same mycelium ingredient as MyBacon, MyJerky will continue the brand’s mission of creating “positive, lasting change for our food system and, in turn, Spaceship Earth.” The company is also in the process of launching a second mycelium farm in Canada with Whitecrest Mushrooms Ltd.