Above Food and Umiami partner to develop plant-based whole-cut meat analogues 

Above Food Corp., a vertically integrated plant-based food company, is partnering with Umiami, a France-based food technology company focusing on reproducing whole-cut ‘meat’ and ‘fish’, made from plants. Through this union, Above Food and Umiami will be collaborating on research and development featuring a variety of Above Food’s proprietary protein ingredients and scaling production processes for the development of texturized whole-cut meat and fish analogues.

Umiami recently won the Future Food Tech startup showcase powered by Quorn for its proprietary texturization process, which allows for the perfect replication of whole cut proteins with consistency aligned fibres.

“The mainstream production techniques for plant-based meats have had significant limitations on size and texture, until now,” said Above Food president and co-founder Martin Williams. “Umiami has cracked the code, meaning it can create a thick, fibrous whole cut of ‘meat’, beyond the typical patties, sausages and bite-size portions consumers are accustomed to right now.”

“Above Food’s world-class expertise and seed-to-fork platform will allow us to expand beyond soy into other highly functional plant proteins,” noted Umiami  co-founder Martin Habfast. “We very much look forward to working with them, combining their knowledge of protein functionality and our proprietary texturization process, while also expanding our North American network.”

This partnership comes at a time of significant momentum for both organizations as Above Food recently added Loma Linda, Tuno and Neat to its house of CPG brands last year. Demonstrating similar momentum, 2021 saw Umiami raise €4 million in capital, and gain international recognition for its advanced texturization technology.