Alternative protein startup, Planted, recently raised the equivalent of around $72 million in a Series B round led by L Catterton.  Planted is based in Switzerland.  It develops alternative proteins using bio-structuring and fermentation to offer clean cuts of vegan meat.  The company offers faux versions of chicken, pulled pork, kebab meat, and schnitzel, which can be found at retailers and restaurants across Europe. Christoph Jenny, co-founder of Planted, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss. 

Closing Bell

Alternative Protein Startup Planted Raises $72 Million

alternative protein startup planted raising the equivalent of 72 million in the series B round led by the private equity firm L. Catterton Well Planet is based in Switzerland and develops alternative proteins using bio structuring and fermentation to offer clean cuts of vegan meat Company offering faux versions of chicken pulled pork kebab meat and schnitzel, which can be found at retailers and restaurants in europe. So joining me now is christophe Yeni, co founder of planted christoph. Thanks so much for coming on the show. I don't know if you're joining from Switzerland, but it's good to see you. So tell me more about these alternatives, the process of developing these faux meat products. Yes, so we looked at the market when we started in 2019 and sort of saw that consumers were felt a bit let down in terms of taste consumer health as well as um the overall experience in terms of pricing. So we looked for new ways to create alternative proteins that fulfill that and we found it in a combination of structuring plant based proteins and running a fermentation process over it so we can make these amazing products that have a lot more bite and taste and flavor to it. You know, I've obviously had faux chicken cancer that I've had. Phone pulled pork planted kebab, I think that's probably a new one on the market, Does anyone else offer planted kebab? The full stack up, you see very seldom. So it's something that is very big culture wise here in europe having keep up and keep up places. And so we felt that we needed to deliver something that fulfills that craving for for a good keep up and we believe we found that. Okay, so I want you to talk to me more about the technology, the process involved here, how capital intensive is it and how easy is it to produce some of these faux products? Yes, so um the process are essentially what we do different is that we have a fermentation component fermentation, you might know from beer brewing one of the most common application basically you have microbes to the job that animals would do otherwise. And through that it allows you to create different bigger cuts of meat and that are a bit more savory bit juicier and have a lot more flavor and that's what we focus on and the really cool thing that this technology allows us to do, it's all natural and clean meaning we have very, very few ingredients and only natural ingredients. So for example chicken, you only have yellow piece and a bit of water and that's it. And so it allows us to be ultimate, very clean, which we believe is something that consumers are really finding out for them to be very important. I do want to ask about the fermentation process, so is fermentation uh part of the process for every single faux product that you offer and are there any health notes that people should know if they are going to eat a fermented plant based product. Yeah. So every product that we have has a fermentation component in it health wise, I think it allows us to do different things different and better. So for example, vitamin B-12, it's something that is very essential that you have that and we get that in the product. Also fermentation. So I think in health aspects actually actually fermentation is amazing and allows us to do things that otherwise, what's the demand for this for your products in Europe? Yeah, it's big. So we started out here in Switzerland in uh june of 2019 and now we've expanded to Germany Austria France Italy and starting in the U K. So yeah, we're trying to ramp up really fast. We had our first production full production line in 2020. We've added the second line and now giving up for growth all over europe and they're trying to make our contribution to better. The food looks very tasty. The mezze platter with skewers. I like that Zinke chicken tacos. I just wanna, oh I'm getting hungry now. The caesar style fajitas christophe. These look really good. Look, I do have to ask because of Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine. No clear ending in sight. It's disrupted the global supply chain. Obviously in addition to Covid and other factors at play here? How has that impacted your business and how are you planning strategically around that? Yes. So I think the overall inflationary tendencies are obviously very difficult. We heard earlier. I think also on your show, it's a big topic for consumers. I think the good news that we have is that we're a lot less protein intensive. So if chicken, if you want one, uh £1 of chicken protein, you need to put in £4. Um if you use our technology, it's one for one. So we're a lot more efficient. So through that we believe ultimately in the long run we actually have a cure, let's say, for the food system. So it also has a monetary aspect. I think people are forgetting that the current technology is not efficient and in the end, consumers end up paying for that. So we believe that with our technology and also many other great startups in the space that ultimately we will bring price parity and either even able to drive prices below current prices and actually help in that. So, I think that's a long run, very positive news. I think that we have, well, I'm definitely hungry. I want to try some of this kebab. I know it's popular in europe. Um and I think I would find it tasty. So kristoff someday you'll have to join me in person. Thank you so much for coming on from Switzerland. That's Christopher co founder of planted