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food for thought engineering startupTender food for thought Inc.is a four - year - sure-enough startup elbowing its direction into a market place that is already crowd together with well - hump steel . It ’s doing so well that it already secured a declaration with Clover Food Lab ’s fast - food chain in the Boston area .
The Somerville , Massachusetts - establish company , formerly known as Boston Meats , develops plant life - based alternative pith , admit beef short rib , perpetrate pork , wimp knocker and crab .
Its technology involves spin flora protein fibre , include soy protein , standardised to the manner cotton plant candy is made , to create integrated cutting of meat , company co - laminitis and CEO Christophe Chantre , told TechCrunch . Berlin - basedProject Eadenis also employ roughage - spin engineering to make alternate protein .
Chantre believesTender’stechnology scramble incumbent works - found pith product , like Impossible Foods or Beyond centre , in taste , texture , nutrition and cost . All four of those have traditionally been barriers to mainstream acceptation within the food technical school industry .
“ Consumers have been for the most part disappointed by what ’s on the food market , ” he said . “ We ’re focus on invest in the technologies so that we can create good products . That was the toughened affair , until now . ”
Since Tender Food started in 2020 , the market has produce a batch . During that time , his company evolved and ripen . Two years ago , he would have described Tender Food as a applied science company mainly focused on R&D. While it is still a technology companionship , its focal point has shifted into becoming commercial .
“ We are just starting to commercialize , so gross was not a big focusing , but it will be now , ” Chantre said .
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Some of Tender ’s products have hit restaurants and university in the Boston area , and a new partnership has Tender ware now in 11 Clover Food research lab locations in the area .
“ We ’re a popular vegetarian strand , so , as you’re able to reckon , we examine a lot of young plant - based products , ” enjoin Chris Anderson , senior vice president at Clover , in a program line . “ Tender ’s stand out from the commencement — it ’s innovational , it ’s tasty , it ’s a smashing add-on to our grain bowls and salads . ”
The move is buoy by a fresh cash extract of $ 11 million in Series A funding . Rhapsody Venture Partners led the round and was joined by be investor like Chris Sacca ’s Lowercarbon Capital and Safar Partners and new investor Claridge Partners and Nor’easter Ventures . In 2022 , the company raised $ 12 million in seed funding .
In gain to meeting the demand for its fresh eating house customer , the funding will go toward further ware evolution . It will also go toward scaling up co - manufacturing with other troupe to one thousand thousand of Cypriot pound of Cartesian product , Chantre say .
The companionship continues to trial its product in the market , let in with foodservice companies and bombastic bay window that fabricate nutrient . In the long term , Chantre also view Tender Food as a engineering enabler for the intact nutrient tech industry , working with a legion of different players across the economic value chain and perhaps certify its engineering .
Meanwhile , Tender Food recently added Mike Messersmith , former North American president of Oatly , to its board of theater director . After joining Oatly in 2017 , Messersmith pioneered the fellowship ’s U.S. launch . Chantre said he met Messersmith through one of his investors .
“ Since we ’re develop from being a engineering company , to being a technology and commercial-grade company , we ’re enter constructor and operator like Mike , who have that experience , ” he said . “ In our eyeshot , it is really worthful in this next step of our growth . ”
