Adamo Foods - Innovating the UK meat alternative market
Adamo Foods, a UK-based food tech company based in London, has been revolutionising the vegan market by developing deliciously authentic whole-cut meat alternatives using mycelium, with a proprietary fermentation technology.
Challenge
Efforts are underway to develop mycelium-based meat alternatives in response to the growing market for plant-based products, currently worth $12 billion globally and projected to reach $100 billion by 2030. To meet consumer expectations, as well as being tasty and affordable, plant-based products need to be nutritious, with high levels of protein and other nutrients. Many existing products can be highly processed, some containing over 20 ingredients, including artificial binders such as methylcellulose. Some are synthetically fortified with vitamins and minerals, which can result in low bioavailability of these nutrients, often with elevated levels of phytates and antinutritional factors that block nutrient uptake.
The development of high-quality tasty products in an efficient and sustainable manner which also address nutritional challenges requires substantial investment in research and development. Scaling in line to meet global demand for these products adds a layer of complexity to the challenge. Despite these obstacles, addressing the growing interest in plant-based products presents an opportunity for the food industry to innovate and contribute to a more sustainable and diverse food system.
Approach
Adamo Foods, collaborating with the University of Nottingham, ran a pilot study to develop groundbreaking fermentation techniques for Adamo’s ultra-realistic whole-cut mycelium steak.
Whilst mycelium has enormous potential in meat alternatives, being high in fibre, protein and micronutrients, this project sought to boost nutrition further and match real meat for specific nutrients. Adamo’s “steak” was characterised with world-leading analytical techniques, against which a range of innovative nutritional enhancements were assessed, with recommendations for scale-up – and with great results…
By the end of the study, Adamo had developed a tender and fibrous mycelium steak, with as much iron and B12 as beef, a higher protein quality than beef, with zero cholesterol. Success looks like reducing the nutrient “gap” for mycelium-based products relative to meat and increasing consumer interest.
Benefits
The impact of the project has been significant for Adamo Foods. Grant funding from Innovate UK enabled them to work with the University of Nottingham on enhancing the nutritional quality of novel whole-cut style mycelium-based products through fungal fermentation, biofortification, and process innovation. This not only benefited Adamo Foods but also had a wider impact on the UK AgriFood industry by contributing to the development of the alternative protein industry, creating sustainable local food supply chains, and catering to the growing demand for healthier and more sustainable alternative food products.
How Innovate UK Business Connect accelerated the innovation
Innovate UK Business Connect has played a crucial role in supporting Adamo Foods in various activities including supporting them with bids into several funding competitions:
- Smart Grant: helping develop Adamo’s patent-pending fermentation technique and first products.
- Novel, low-emission food production systems: industrial research.
- Better Food for All: innovation for improved nutrition.
- Investor Partnership grant: to help attract private investors for scale up.
The Innovate UK Business Connect AgriFood team helped Adamo Foods enhance their project management and exploitation planning throughout these projects, as well as investor readiness support for the Investor Partnerships.
To date, through the Innovate UK funding mechanism, Adamo have achieved a total of >£2m (2022-25), with the latest grant funding implementing a unique commercial-scale mycelium manufacturing process to launch ultra-realistic whole-cut meat alternatives.
We are hugely grateful to Innovate UK Business Connect for all their support for Adamo during our early years. They’ve supported our initial proof of concept, product development, linked us to great partners, supported our scale up, helped attract investors, and showcased us to a global audience ready for our pilot launch later this year. They’re a perfect partner for an early-stage, highly innovative company like ours, helping us lay the groundwork for global growth.
– Nick Wood, COO of Adamo