Get Ready for Great-Tasting Veggie Burgers Throughout the Foodservice Industry

It’s 2019, and the foodservice world is changing to include more plant-based offerings in response to growing consumer demand. Enter newly minted Motif Ingredients, a start-up owned by parent company Gingko Bioworks, who has big plans to capitalize on the shift. According to an article in Forbes, Motif Ingredients just banked $90 million in its Series A fundraising efforts.

According to the article, “Gingko is known for the ability to rapidly produce DNA for applications from microbes that replace fertilizer to ones that produce perfume fragrances. At Motif, that technology will be inserted into yeast cells. The yeast is then fermented, as in beer brewing, except that instead of producing alcohol, the yeast creates whatever by-product Motif’s customers want.” Translation: Motif can use the fermented yeast to “mimic flavors or textures similar to those found in protein products like beef and dairy—a potential game-changer for the budding industry of plant-based foods, which has seen everything from burgers to cheese alternatives gain popularity in recent years.”

For even established foodservice franchises, this means a very literal survival of the fittest: adapt, or fold. QSR juggernaut Yum! Brands has even gotten onboard with a “faux chicken” offering planned for the U.K. and Irish markets (which led the demand for meat-free before the U.S.)

For those franchises looking stay competitive in a historically volatile industry, the answer may well be, ahem, beefing up their meat-free offering.

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