In an ideal world, people would be healthier than they are now, and humanity would be kinder to animals, as well as the planet we all call home. Such is the vision of Christophe Chantre, CEO and co-founder of Tender Food, a Boston-based startup working to develop plant-based meat alternatives. The company is preparing to launch its product with a $12 million round of seed funding.
Tender pursues a mission of making alternative meats more delicious, nutritious and affordable than animal products, a goal that has attracted attention from lead investor Lowercarbon Capital as well as participants including Rhapsody Venture Partners, actress and animal rights activist Natalie Portman and food tech specialist investor Unovis.
When considering ways to shrink our carbon footprint, one of the first solutions to come to mind may be switching to electric modes of transportation. However, farming livestock to make meat products is another factor that contributes largely to greenhouse gas emissions, as much as 15.4 percent of it, as found by the Factory Farming Awareness Coalition.
“We consume over 300 million tons of meat every year. … Animal agriculture is one of the most polluting and destructive industries on our planet,” Chantre told Built In via email. “Studies also agree that eating a primarily plant-based diet is healthier than a meat-centric diet. … Our goal is to make our product more nutritious and healthier than animal-based meat.”
Tender is engineering a line of chicken, beef and pork alternatives meant to look, taste and feel authentic. Its technology works to replicate the texture of whole cut products by spinning plant protein into strands that mimic the animal’s muscle fibers. The tech has applications for plant-based as well as cultured meat, according to the company.
While an immediate shift in the global diet is improbable, getting billions of people across the world to switch entirely over to alternative meat would be “an enormous manufacturing challenge but also a huge opportunity,” according to Chantre.
“It will take more than a decade, but if incentives — consumers, investors and policymakers — are aligned, I believe it will go faster than we expect,” he continued.
Tender is manifesting this forward-looking mindset through ramping up production in anticipation of its product launch sometime this year. In doing so, the company is currently expanding its workforce with plans to double its team over the next 12 to 18 months. Tender is hiring scientists and engineers in addition to food industry experts in operations, business and marketing.
