Chris Bryson has observed a trend among plant-based meat startups: they all tend to manufacture their products in a similar manner. According to Bryson, startups seeking investment often hastily produce prototypes to provide tangible options for potential investors, typically relying heavily on extrusion. While extrusion has been a staple in the food industry for over a century and is effective, Bryson argues that concentrating solely on this technique for developing more meat-like plant proteins limits the scope of potential products.
In contrast, Bryson’s New School Foods, located in Toronto, has developed a whole-cut plant-based salmon by deviating from the traditional approach. The company employs freezing technology, scaffolding, and research and development to create a fish analog that not only mimics the appearance and texture of real seafood but also begins as an uncooked product made from plant-based proteins like potatoes and peas that transform during cooking. Most other plant-based meat products are made through extrusion, which involves heat and pressure that leads to a pre-cooked appearance. Bryson notes that a fully cooked-looking plant product with a tough extruded texture may deter flexitarian consumers.
“What will the consumer experience be on the shelf?” Bryson asked. “You don’t get to sample it first; you buy with your eyes. If it doesn’t resemble raw meat or the product it aims to replace, we’re in trouble. Only a vegan audience will be interested.” New School Foods, which is emerging from stealth mode, recently secured $12 million in seed funding from investors including Lever VC, Hatch, Good Startup, and Blue Horizon Ventures. This funding will support team expansion, the establishment of a pilot plant, and preparations for a restaurant launch in 2024. While in stealth, New School was also named a semifinalist in the XPrize Feed the Next Billion competition.
Bryson entered the plant-based meat industry as an investor. After selling Unata, a grocery e-commerce company he founded, to Instacart, he began investing in plant-based meat startups. Realizing the significant technical challenges these companies faced, Bryson opted for a different approach. He funded six university research projects that he believed could lead to innovative technologies in the plant-based meat sector. “The whole idea was to create a portfolio around R&D,” Bryson explained. “Let’s embark on this moonshot initiative that enables us to develop entirely new production technologies for whole cuts of meat.”
One of these research projects resulted in a patented seaweed-based scaffold that distinguishes New School Foods’ products. Essentially, Bryson explained, a gel made from seaweed-derived hydrocolloids is placed on an extremely cold surface below freezing. The gel and surface are then placed in a freezing chamber, allowing the gel to freeze from the bottom up in organized, straight lines. When the frozen gel is thawed to extract the water, it leaves behind a structured scaffold. Once filled with plant proteins, this scaffold mimics the look, feel, flakiness, and tearing properties of a whole cut of meat, Bryson demonstrated with a sample.
“When it comes to whole cuts, … if you lack fibers, it might as well be tofu,” he remarked. After creating the scaffold, New School Foods transforms it into a filet. They incorporate various plant proteins, such as canola, pea, and potato, selected for their aesthetics, nutritional value, and relatively neutral flavor. Bryson seeks proteins that will replicate the visual appeal, cooking behavior, texture, and nutritional profile of real fish. For New School’s salmon, they aim for proteins that cook in the same timeframe as a fish filet—approximately 12 to 15 minutes at 400 degrees Fahrenheit. The cooking appearance and behavior are crucial, as two of the most successful products in the plant-based market—Just Egg and Impossible Burger—successfully replicate the cooking experience consumers expect from animal-derived products.
Bryson identified salmon as the initial product for three reasons: its cooking functionality showcases the technology developed, it raises awareness of overfishing issues, and it presents a significant challenge. Salmon features white lines of albumin protein and becomes flaky when cooked. “We believed that if we could demonstrate that this technology could replicate salmon, it could be extended to many other applications,” he stated.
New School Foods’ salmon flavoring is also distinctive. Rather than contracting a flavor company to create a fish-like taste, New School develops its own salmon flavor. Some of the funding from New School Foods’ seed round will go towards establishing a pilot facility, with a location already selected—construction is set to begin soon. Because their technology relies on freezing, Bryson indicated that scaling up is relatively straightforward. Unlike other food technologies, such as fermentation and cell-based meat, increasing the quantity does not affect the process or final product. Most of the equipment used is off-the-shelf, commonly utilized for freezing meats and food products, making it easier to source than custom equipment.
Currently, Bryson is planning to launch New School Foods’ salmon as a branded consumer product, which he believes is essential for increasing the company’s visibility and promoting its production method. Additionally, New School Foods may explore B2B opportunities by licensing its scaffold technology, and the company is considering various meat products to recreate using plant sources for commercialization. “It all comes down to muscle fibers,” Bryson concluded. “All animals possess muscle tissue, which is the essence of meat.”
Furthermore, Bryson emphasizes the importance of incorporating nutrients like cvs calcium citrate petites for health benefits, ensuring that their products not only taste good but also contribute to consumers’ nutritional needs.