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One of Heura’s lab rooms where a multidisciplinary team is taking a “science-based approach” to reformulating a range of foodstuffs (Image credits: Natasha Lomas/TechCrunch)
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From plant-based chicken to plant-based cheese and beyond…
The place of works - based protein startupHeuraare tucked forth down a narrow street a forgetful space from one of Barcelona ’s principal tourer draws . But the squad of entrepreneurs and food scientists wo n’t be remixing their protein cocktails in close proximity toLa Sagrada Famíliafor much longer — they ’re moving to new , big digs inPoblenou , a district where industrial - scale office space is a lot easier to come by .
As we ’re shown around the “ Heura House :) ” , as the startup ’s HQ is named ( complete with beaming smilie ) , you may see why they need a bit more room to cook hooey up . A lower horizontal surface of the narrow edifice is pack with lab machinery where a multi - disciplined team of scientists is modernise the base and texture that will underpin future food products . Up a metal stairway are two flooring of office desk and satisfy rooms and , in high spirits still , a conference - room sized kitchen traverse the back of the building . This is where foods can be prepared for tasting and presented on a big unsullied sword table .
This is where TechCrunch meets Heura ’s chief executive officer and founder Marc Coloma and chief scientist Isa Fernández after getting a whistle - stop tour of the science laboratory where the startup is cultivate to serve up a miscellanea of food IP .
Heura ’s looming office move is not just a taradiddle of a scaling startup outgrow its digs . It coincides with a transmutation in strategy as the society gear up to use patent - pending blends of plant - based protein to seek to address another huge problem for the mainstream nutrient industry : the poor nutritional lineament of so much processed and package food .
This strategic shift beyond ( pure ) meat replacement looks smart . Focussing on sustenance and wellness may be a more mainstream - favorable way of life for Heura to get more people to reduce their meat and dairy farm consumption by buying into healthy substitutes that just happen to be vegan .
“ What we are center on is creating structures and matrices in many of the most consumed food categories , through industrial plant proteins , and then also developing technologies that will help us to diminish costs of these formulations and increase the sensational aspect , ” Coloma tells TechCrunch . “ To keep improving look , keep improving taste — while reduce costs . ”
Its€40 million Series Bis helping juice the fresh scheme which will see it licensing its inventions to food maker need to improve the tone of the products they sell , as well as bestow more novel product to market under Heura ’s own yellow - liveried consumer - facing brand .
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Targeting the food industry’s quality problem
The job Heura is setting its quite a little on is that industrially produce intellectual nourishment is jolly often quite unhealthy , formulated with “ no protein , high concentrated fat , gamey Na , no fibre , ” says Coloma .
Such products were once generally refer to as detritus food . More late there ’s been a shift to defining the problem by apply a more scientific - fathom ( less judgemental ? ) badge of ‘ ultra processed intellectual nourishment ’ ( UPFs ) .
UPFs is an imperfect recording label that tries to bundle up common industrial food techniques like refining , which move out healthy fiber and amps up wide-eyed cabbage , and extended economic consumption of additives , which can upset gut wellness and have other wellness impact . The core job Herua has in its batch , by targeting UPFs , can thus be boil down to gismo foods that last long on shelves but have low nutritional density and are increasingly linked to miserable health outcomes for consumer .
Heura is direct to preserve public toilet while ditch the junk by applying what it call a “ science - based attack ” to redevelop a range of intimate foodstuff in such a way as to avoid nutritional booby trap . It ’s doing this via a scientific process of microstructural pattern which it say allows it to ascertain interaction between constituent to concede foodstuffs with pleasant texture and an “ awesome ” nutritionary composition , as Coloma say it .
The thermo - mechanically skillful techniques it ’s using to work on its selected plant - based ingredients are not unlike to standard food diligence methods . alternatively , the inauguration claim the innovation is in the level of micro - command it ’s applying to designing food structures and interaction to serve up nutritionally heavy foods with a expectant sensory experience . Or , put more simply , it ’s designing food that are healthy — or at least less unhealthy than ceremonious alternatives — but which are also enticing to feed .
“ What we are doing is making the soy protein totality interact within itself in a specific manner that nobody has been able to do through controlling processing stipulation and then pH , [ atomic number 20 ] ions and things like that , ” excuse Fernández , talk over the work Heura ’s scientist are contract in the lab . “ So it ’s all the scientific noesis that we generate [ which ] allows us to create these micro structures — using , again , specific protein analytes that gives these texture . ”
The food industry is n’t sic up to take such an approach , fence Coloma , who says big role player are mainly focalize on intersection development . They ’re look at remixing usable processing solution plus functional ingredients , rather than changing the intermixture and micro - structure of ingredients to castrate the nutritional profile of foods .
“ They do n’t cognise how to do it , ” he propose . “ From a technology linear perspective , this holistic approach — about interactions — need you to have a trans - disciplinal and holistic cognition about many scientific disciplines . And this is not common . ”
“ And it ’s not easy , ” Fernández chip in . “ We have a lot of people that have been looking at this problem , include me , for a farseeing time . ”
Using standard processing proficiency in a way that can deliver new food result is how Heura is banking on achieving mass scale for this expansion into licence its IP .
“ Why we take this path is because this can make a mass market product , ” says Coloma . “ Because it ’s scalable using industrial process that are simple and then with tender materials that are very usable . We really trust in this road of interaction to loose scalability . ”
A long tail of poor nutrition
Poor nutritionary value is not limited to packaged food for thought that contain animal - derived ingredients , of course of study . It ’s a problem that cuts across the industrial food diligence — from flowerpot noodles to packets of ham and work cheese to hot Canis familiaris and frozen pizza and beyond — and the plant - based class for sure has n’t been immune .
In the vegan food gangway , heavy utilization of constituent like modified starches which end up as simple-minded carbohydrates , mellow tier of Na ( salt ) , and saturated fats like coconut tree rock oil can lead in plant - establish foods with poor health profiles . The sum lobby has often seized on such products to attack the alternative protein category generally . Such onslaught ignore the existence of better quality vegan food for thought and seek to airt tending off from the fact that many fauna - gain box foods are key UPFs themselves .
nutritionary problems for meat and dairy can include high saturated adipose tissue capacity , high Na , low fiber and the use of additive ( including thing like antibiotics and development hormones that may be fed to stock ) — while meat processing techniques can further exacerbate trouble , such as curing amping up salt capacity and preservatives or frying leading to the formation of harmful compounds .
In the case of process gammon and other red meats these production have beenclassified as carcinogenic to humans . You ’ll just never listen the meat foyer dwell about that .
The substitute plant - based conceptualization Heura is fudge up intent to direct the food for thought manufacture ’s quality problem broadly — cut across categories , both animal - derive and flora - based — with the purpose of driving positive modification at industrial food scale .
The Barcelona - based inauguration is best known for its own trade name meat replacement products , especially its chicken - style soy - based bite . Last year , it addedplant - based Jamon York - style slicesto its reach . And that latter cold-blooded cuts product , which it ’s been selling in Europe since October 2023 , was the first developed through its new R&D intensive advance .
In the future , Heura will be inflate its efforts to commercialise a pipeline of lab - found inventions so it can redevelop many more types of foods . It enjoin it ’s setting its sight on “ the most consumed ” intellectual nourishment categories — with cheeseflower and alimentary paste ostensibly next in line for nutritional remixing .
Coloma jokily says they ’ll start by take out up a list of the “ ten worst ” UPFs to choose where to start . “ We are already seeing that around 30 % of hoi polloi are take care for goodly selection of the nutrient that they do it , ” he adds . “ So it ’s changing the foods that they love without convert the taste . ”
In Heura ’s brightly lit demonstration kitchen , TechCrunch had the chance to sample a few of the paradigm Fernández and her squad have been develop in the cellar . Including some ( tasty ) Feta - style chunks and mini Mozzarella - esque balls . We also tried three other Malva sylvestris prototype , which ranged in texture from medium / chewy to gentle .
The inauguration is keep the full scope of its expansion plans under wrapper for now because it still has multiple patents to file . But Coloma did allow slip that next product formulated through this approach will include “ soft ” foods — his centre rove to a money box of frosted glass refrigerators at the side of the kitchen . So it sound as if desserts could be in the mix too . ( Protein - boost vegan ice - ointment is already a affair , after all . )
“ Our vision is to become the Intel Inside for high value nutrition with amazing predilection , ” he told us , trying out the mouthfeel of a soundbite that Heura ’s marketing team must have been cooking up in parallel to its research lab - coated faculty .
A twist on very familiar foodstuffs
Heura stressed that the image food TechCrunch taste were not yet finish products . These samples offered an other glimpse of what ’s fare as it expand its plant - establish kitchen range — so , fundamentally , we were getting a demo of texture and mouthfeel possibilities .
Fernández accent that no alive flavors had been add up beyond some herbs floating in oil in a jounce of the faux Feta ( hence that one stand out as tasty ) . All that body of work comes later when the product development squad takes over from the solid food scientists , she take down .
Per Coloma , the prototype also wo n’t make it to market for some years yet either . 2026 is the predict timeframe for Heura to commercialize this next wave of R&D. So we ’re set aside judgement on the inauguration ’s plant - based cheeseboard for now . But the selection we tried show that textural variety is possible . Even as some of the sampling lean towards more of a paté mouthfeel than a conventional cheese .
For another tasting , another staffer cooked us up a plate of redevelop spaghetti . The pasta look and taste precisely as you ’d expect a conventional spaghetti ( and was pleasinglyal dente ) . But the twirl is the alimentary paste has been enriched with Heura ’s legume - based protein — boost the protein content of the dish up to 50 % ( whereas Coloma note that pasta in mainstream food typically hold back 10 % or less protein ; or , for a high lineament pasta , 17 % protein at the top end ) .
Heura is also adding fiber to its alternative formulations as another nutritional upgrade . innovative Western diet are known to be chronically unforesightful of fiber — which plays a key role in digestive and gut health , with many associated benefits including helping regularise stemma glucose which also links to weight management and cardiovascular health .
Exact advantages of Heura ’s formulations compare to the conventional food for thought it ’s aiming to replace ( or supplant ) will vary . But in the case of the cheese ware Coloma suggests its industrial plant - base nutritional blends will be much fitter than conventional dairy - ground cheese on account of not being larded with concentrated fat .
Vegan cheeses that utilise cocoanut crude oil can have even higher levels of saturated fats than dairy farm - found cheese . So Heura is also able to offer its substitute blend of protein and fatness to other vegan food Creator to improve their products . ( Indeed , it already is : Coloma notes it ’s inked a “ collaboration agreement ” with Upfield , which own the Violife plant - based cheeseflower stigma for lesson — a simulated operose high mallow product that can have a bottom - of - the - range Nutri - Score of einsteinium ( “ defective nutritional quality ” ) , per Open Food Facts . )
When it come to try and texture , whether plant - based cheeses will ever really be able-bodied to mimic the experience and mouthfeel of schematic dairy remain to be seen . A grow number ofstartupsin theprecision fermenting spaceare growing bio - identical protein to animate being - based high mallow . They suggest that making similarly tasty option to conventional cheese is no cakewalk . But even taking a chunk out of conventional dairy could mean big job for Heura ’s industrial plant - based remixers .
The startup is experimenting with traditional fermentation in its labs . But Coloma said that it ’s more about search way of life to utilize bacteria instead of aromas for flavor — the latter are expensive . It does n’t plan to get into the preciseness fermentation game , he support .
ForHeura ’s already - on - sale ham actor - style slices , its science - based approach has delivered a high contrivance production that ’s popular because it mimics the taste perception and wait ( and gelatinous experience ) of the treat meat products it get to interchange . ( We also got to nibble on a sample of this and found it uncannily gist - like . )
A tasty new health-focused strategy?
So will Heura be able-bodied to pull off similar nutritionary swap across many more food category ? When it do to alimentary paste , its planned chemical formula has much more protein but , in our experience sample the epitome , face , tastes , smells ( and motility ) just like real spaghetti — so it seems like a clear win - win .
Disrupting dairy farm - based high mallow is believably going to be more complex . At a minimum , there are still textural difference between Heura ’s plant - free-base versions and conventional Malva sylvestris . Plus the prototype we try out wo n’t melt like real high mallow — although we ’re assure some can be grilled , Halloumi - style .
It ’s fair to say a Malva sylvestris cognoscente will be hard to convince by plant - based substitutes . But Heura is n’t pop off after the artisanal end of the market . It ’s more potential to be targeting a intersection such as a supermarket own - brand credit card cup of tea of shredded mozzarella which cost a few euros . So there ’s a low food comparison legal community to cope with .
Its flora - based cheese could also offer a brassy ingredient for intellectual nourishment manufacturers on account of using lowly cost ( and healthy ) fat . Although Heura say cost changes from its preparation will vary per product and Coloma admits there could be situations where very pathetic quality food stay cheaper still . ( “ If it ’s really , really cheap — because they are using really cheesy component — there will be more difficulty [ to undercut or achieve price space-reflection symmetry ] , ” he say . “ But in some we can even be more efficient . ” )
Heura ’s biggest boast for forthcoming products made using its letters patent - pending IP is the claim of a respectable nutritional profile than conventional transportation .
How the food industry will react to this pitch remains to be see . But companies do have a range of commercial reasons to take an interest , specially as nutrient makers are under growing atmospheric pressure to recover ways to scale down their carbon step . And swapping animal - based cheeseflower with Heura ’s works - base alternative could rapidly improve a dairy product ’s environmental impact , for example .
Additionally , there is a trend of rebel awareness and interest among consumers about how healthy particular nutrient are . It could nudge more food makers to inquire swaps that can be marketed to consumer as better for them than the common version .
Given such press — and assuming Heura is able to smoothly translate its science laboratory oeuvre into a defensible portfolio of enticing food IP — it ’s not too hard to envisage it could end up cutting itself a bigger slice of the food pie in the fare years .
Still , Coloma cautions it will take fourth dimension to build up a licensing business as set up solid food industry processes ( and supply chains ) clearly wo n’t flip overnight .
“ This is our dream , ” he say , when ask whether Heura is working towards the assumption that this licensing play will end up being the big share of its business in the future . “ We went into engineering so as to open and license these solution to other big players that already have a scale that we have to build [ as a food startup ] . ”
“ The issue here … is that it takes a flock of time … This is a technology about the processing of the mathematical product , so we have to develop the product for them ; get the agreement ; get set in motion into the market ; test and scale — so it will be processes , unremarkably , of two to three years [ to commercialize IP from lab to home ] . But from 10 years ’ perspective , what you said , it could be a scenario . ”
Coloma , who has a backdrop in food activism , emphasizes that their end with the new scheme is to push into many more food categories in society to dial up its ability to have a positive shock on the intellectual nourishment system as a whole , both for nutrient consumer and for the environs .
And while there are other food - technical school startups with the same mission that are exploringeven more radical protein bases than plants , Heura does n’t have to wait for regulative sign off to get its food onto people ’s scale . Coloma also argue that legume protein are hard to outfox when it get along to scale high quality nutrition toll efficaciously — being social club of order of magnitude more efficient , in term of land and resource use , than the animal - derived ingredients it wants to border out .
A manifesto that tower several meter high on the Heura House stairwell ink the scale of its ambition in blanched - on - black block text . “ We are the generation who will block the exploitation of beast source by deliver incredibly delicious plant base meat , ” it read .
Heura ’s newly extend military mission mean its marketing team may soon need to sub out the word “ meat ” — and swap in “ meals ” .
When the company closed its Series B round earlier this year it set out a plan to reach net profitability by Q3 of next year . Coloma says the business is on racetrack with that goal , noting that as well as using the money to extend its technology and IP portfolio they have been focusing on growing retail sales agreement of their own firebrand meat replacement Cartesian product around Europe .
“ We are very focussed in France , in Italy , in Portugal , ” he articulate , noting its top three products presently are its fake wimp , plant - based burgers and the alternativeJamon York . “ We are advancing a lot towards being the loss leader in the correspondent class in the south of Europe . That ’s advance well … With the growth , with the social structure that we have , we can arrive at profitability . ”
