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Hormel Foods, known for its canned meat product SPAM, is developing new plant-based meat alternatives. Under an exclusive partnership with the food technology company The Better Meat Co., Hormel's venture capital company 199 Ventures will be committed to using The Better Meat Co.’s unique fermentation technology to bring new plant-based meat products to the market. The two will use Better Meat Co.'s Rhiza to develop a next-generation product, a fungal protein that mimics the texture of meat and is produced through potato-based fermentation. 

“As a global branded food company, we understand that our food culture is changing rapidly, and people are curious and willing to try delicious plant-based proteins,” said Fred Halvin, Vice President of Corporate Development of Hormel Foods. A statement. "We are very happy to work with The Better Meat Co. team to continue to provide delicious and convenient fungal protein and plant protein products." 

Better Meat Co. was established in 2018 with the aim of creating animal-free protein that the company can use as a meat substitute to improve its sustainability indicators. Rhiza is made by feeding potatoes to microscopic fungi, and then the fungus produces a fungal protein with a texture and flavor similar to animal meat, but without the need to slaughter the animal. According to Better Meat Co., Rhiza has more protein than eggs and more iron than beef. 

Doni Curkendall, executive vice president of operations at The Better Meat Co, said in a statement: “We are proud to work with Hormel Foods to unleash the power of fermentation to build a more sustainable food supply.” “Hormel Foods in Animals With deep expertise in plant protein, we look forward to working together to bring our delicious fungal protein to the world." 

Although Hormel's partnership with The Better Meat Co. is not directly aimed at creating a vegan version of SPAM, its development is still within the scope of possibility. "We have a lot of talented R&D staff. [Vegetarian spam] There is no specific plan, but who knows?" Bryan Kreske, general manager of 199 Ventures, said in an interview with Star Tribune. 

Only time will tell whether Hormel will post vegan spam. At the same time, the meat giant has been taking some major initiatives in the plant-based field. In 2019, Hormel launched Happy Little Plants, its first venture into plant-based meat. Under this brand, Hormel initially offered "unseasoned plant-based grated products", which is a vegetarian meat that is cooked in a similar way to ground turkey or beef. Since then, Hormel has expanded the brand to include vegan pepperoni, vegan pepperoni, and vegan sausage-style crumbles, as well as "vegetable meatball-style ingredients" containing dairy ingredients.

This summer, Hormel, through its food service department, launched Happy Little Plants vegan pepperoni in many pizza chains across the country, including vegan meat and Violife vegan cheese at designated locations in Papa Murphy's. 

Although technically it cannot be called "vegetarian spam", Hong Kong-based OmniFoods has recreated a vegetarian product that is very similar to the famous canned meat. This plant-based meat called OmniPork Vegan Luncheon was developed by OmniFoods founder David Yeung. He is an eco-conscious entrepreneur and a social enterprise with Green Monday, aiming to provide consumers with better Choice, low sodium content, no nitrates, zero cruelty to animals.

In October 2020, this vegetarian spam made of soybeans, wheat, sugar beet and coconut oil made its debut in 280 McDonald’s and 122 McDonald’s coffee shops in Hong Kong and Macau, and then expanded to three cities in China (Shanghai, Guangzhou) , Shenzhen), this is the first time that McDonald’s has added vegan meat to its Chinese menu. 

OmniPork's popular pork substitute entered the United States in April through 25 restaurants and chef partners as part of musubi, steamed buns, meatball dishes, and more. In August, OmniPork was retailed in the US for the first time in the Sprouts market, making it easier for consumers to recreate vegan versions of their favorite SPAM dishes. 

For more information about vegetarian spam, please read: Hong Kong brand launched the world's first vegetarian spam. Vegetarian spam has swept Asia. Now its American menu is coming. McDonald's launches vegetarian spam in Hong Kong

Anna Starostinetskaya is a senior news editor at VegNews. She has been following everything about vegetarians in her hometown of San Francisco, California and everywhere else. 

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