French company Umiami, which develops meat- or fish-textured foods from plants, announced on Tuesday that it had raised €32.5 million to develop its factory in Alsace and expand into Europe and the United States.
Launched in 2020, the company created a process to transform a dough that resembles pancake batter into a product similar, in its fibrous texture and flavor, to a chicken tender. Umiami also works with the equivalent of other cuts of meat or fish, its co-founders, Tristan Maurel and Martin Habfast, explain to AFP.
After working in a research and development center in Ile-de-France, at the end of 2022 they bought the former Knorr plant in Duppigheim (Bas Rhin), closed in 2021, to produce more and market on a larger scale in Europe. At the end of the year, a first production line will begin there with a capacity of 7,500 tons per year and will have 70 people. The goal is to employ up to 200 people.
Umiami is also launching in the United States, opening an office in Chicago and recruiting a team there. This country “is a huge market for chicken breasts, a niche where there are almost no vegetable alternatives,” estimates Tristan Maurel.
soy protein
The steak currently made by Umiami is composed of soy protein, water, salt, citric acid, natural flavors, yeast and oil, a limited number of ingredients compared to many plant-based meat substitutes. And its price is on par with chicken breast produced in France, says Martin Habfast.
The public bank Bpifrance, through its Industrial Project Companies (SPI) and its French Tech Seed funds, participated in the fundraising together with other investors, including Astanor Ventures, Redalpine, Newfund and VERSO Capital.
The meat substitutes currently offered on the market are generally “highly processed” and consumers, particularly flexitarians, “are looking for more sustainable products,” he explained to AFP. Since its creation, Umiami has obtained around €100 million in financing (investments, loans and grants).
Source: BFM TV
