Israeli food technology startup Meala has moved to full-scale production of its texturising pea proteins at two sites in France and Germany, more than tripling capacity. The company says the plants will make enough protein from next year to replace 1,400 tonnes of eggs a year, or 82,000 eggs a day.
Meala treats plant protein with a proprietary mix of physical and enzymatic steps so that it binds, gels, foams, emulsifies and holds water, the jobs normally done by eggs and by additives such as hydrocolloids. "Over four years of development, we have progressed from laboratory quantities to industrial production," co-founder and chief executive Hadar Ekhoiz-Razmovich told Green Queen.
The range has three products: Groundbaker, an allergen-free egg replacer for cakes, muffins, waffles, brioche and pancakes; Savory, for plant-based meat; and Addressing, for sauces and dressings. The company says the first plant-based meat products using its protein are already on sale in Europe, and its ingredients are sold through DSM-Firmenich and Lasenor.
The scale-up comes as bird flu and Newcastle disease have disrupted egg supplies, pushing European egg prices to a decade high last year. Meala says its protein could cut the formulation cost of sponge cake by more than 40 percent against an egg-based recipe and remove the need to keep liquid eggs refrigerated. It cites an independent life-cycle assessment putting its carbon emissions 63 percent lower, and its water use 96 percent lower, per kilogram of protein than egg powder.
Founded in 2021, Meala has raised about $10 million and has opened a Series A round. It says its protein is non-novel in the EU and self-affirmed as safe in the US, and it is now filing a notification with the US Food and Drug Administration. The report is by Anay Mridul.
Photo: Renee Comet / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
Source: Green Queen
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