Wealthy Men - Bezos & Gates Back Fake Meat, 'Fungus Burgers' A Possibility

[G.L.R.]

Bezos, Gates back fake meat and dairy made from fungus as next big alt-protein

July 3, 2021



I'am actually largely vegetarian, but what do two investors and big tech inventors have to do with feeding the planet?

As consumers become increasingly comfortable eating faux-meat burgers  that look, cook and taste like the real thing, a food-tech start-up  backed by Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates is using fungus as the primary  ingredient to create alt-meat foods. Nature's Fynd,  based in Chicago, has raised $158 million in funding from investors  including Bezos, Gates, and Al Gore. The company's meatless breakfast  patties and hamburgers, dairy-free cream cheese and yogurt, and  chicken-less nuggets are scheduled to hit grocers' shelves later this  year.  The alternative foods sector skyrocketed in 2020, growing U.S. retail sales  27%, and bringing the total market value to $7 billion, according to  the Plant-Based Foods Association... That has prompted Tyson  Foods, Purdue, Hormel, Cargill and other traditional meat producers to  launch their own products in the category.
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What will this overnight "farmer" produce besides mushrooms on so much land?

As consumers become increasingly comfortable eating faux-meat burgers that look, cook and taste like the real thing, a food-tech start-up backed by Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates is using fungus as the primary ingredient to create alt-meat foods. Nature's Fynd, based in Chicago, has raised $158 million in funding from investors  including Bezos, Gates, and Al Gore. The company's meatless breakfast  patties and hamburgers, dairy-free cream cheese and yogurt, and  chicken-less nuggets are scheduled to hit grocers' shelves later this  year. The alternative foods sector skyrocketed in 2020,... bringing the total market value to $7 billion...

No sorry, I can't see this feeding the world

Much as cows,  chickens and pigs were domesticated centuries ago as protein sources,  "now is the time for this second domestication," ... "The farming of this microbe is an efficient way of producing protein that is just as good." "The  challenge for this and future generations is to learn to do more with  less," Jonas said. "Because with eight billion people, the Earth is not  getting any bigger, its resources are dwindling and climate change is  making it even more difficult to find land to grow crops to feed  animals. The math just doesn't work... Chief marketing officer Karuna Rawal said the formal product  rollout will focus first on retailers, with food service partnerships to  follow... With $158 million in funding from Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates, Al Gore and  other investors, Nature's Fynd meatless breakfast patties and  hamburgers, dairy-free cream cheese and yogurt, and nuggets, minus  chicken, are scheduled to hit grocers' shelves later this year.

We're heading out to pasture!

Chris  Rivest,... is a fan of  the fungus, saying he was "blown away" by products he taste-tested  (Gates was similarly impressed during a "60 Minutes" segment) and its  nutritional value. The company says the vegan protein includes  all 20 amino acids, including the 9 essential amino acids... "We expect to have a lot of demand versus our [manufacturing] capacity, so we have to move fast and raise additional capital to move forward," Jonas said. "We're competing against the meat industry, which has been working on its supply chain for 300 years, so we have big catching up to  do."... Still, plant-based and cultured foods are projected to take a 60%  market share of global meat sales by 2040

Bezos, Gates back fake meat and dairy made from fungus as next big alt-protein
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/bezos-gates-back-fake-meat-and-dairy-made-from-fungus-as-next-big-alt-protein/ar-AALJHS3