Planted, a new company launched in Switzerland this month has a mission of replacing chicken with a practical protein that is plant-based. They hope to accomplish a product similar to what Impossible Foods has done with their plant-based beef.
Founders Eric Stirnemann, Lukas Böni, and Pascal Bieri have been working hard for the past year to create plant-based chicken meat that closely resembles the real thing. They are using a combination of pea protein, pea fiber, sunflower oil, and water that is formed into a dough before undergoing a proprietary extrusion process giving the plant-based meat a fibrous texture similar to a chicken breast.1
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There are no exotic substances or techniques involved, which keeps production simple and vegans happy. It’s created by making a sort of fibrous dough using the ingredients mentioned, then using a carefully configured extrusion machine to essentially recreate the structure of the muscle fibers that make up the bulk of meat. These are then reassembled into larger pieces with a similar texture to a piece of chicken breast.
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Of course it has different properties than real chicken. It has no fat, collagen or other complex animal substances, so it won’t cook the same and can’t be simply substituted in any recipe. But, according to Planted, it should cook a lot like chicken on a grill or stovetop. Bieri told Tech Crunch:
“We put a lot of research into the product to make it extremely close to chicken. Hence, we price around a premium chicken at this stage. We do see strong potential to produce our product at a lower cost mid-term, given strong economies of scale.”1
Planted chicken is currently available at select restaurants in Switzerland. They say that reception has been great, with some consumers unable to tell it apart from the real thing. The product isn’t being substituted for ground chicken hidden within a dish, it takes center stage on the plate.
The company plans to expand its global distribution in early next year. There has been no word on whether the product is following in the footsteps of its inspiration, Impossible Foods, by testing positive for the carcinogen glyphosate.
What are your thoughts….would you eat this?
