Motif FoodWorks Previews Transformative Food-Technologies For Meat Alternatives

New innovations bring meaty flavor, aroma and texture to plant-based alternatives, test well in consumer demonstrations

Boston, MA /PRNewswire/ - Motif FoodWorks, the food technology company on a mission to make plant-based food better tasting and more nutritious, today announced a preview of two upcoming food technologies designed to enable a new generation of craveable plant-based meat alternatives. The technologies – developed through precision fermentation and materials science breakthroughs – are the result of Motif's unique food science and design approach.

"Plant-based meat has the potential to drive a much more healthy and sustainable future, but that won't happen unless people actually eat it," said Michael Leonard, Chief Technology Officer at Motif FoodWorks. "That's why we're focused on solving for key sensory gaps in taste and texture to drive wider consumer adoption."

Meat alternative sales alone grew 45 percent in 2020, yet two out of three Americans (67%) would eat more plant-based options over meat if those products tasted better. Motif is bridging that gap, with two new innovations that address:

• Taste and aroma: The first technology in Motif's pipeline provides the rich umami flavor and mouth-watering aroma associated with beef — all without the animal. The muscle protein is produced through precision fermentation and will be available by the end of 2021.
• Texture: The second technology delivers real, meaty chewdown and juiciness. Through advancements in materials science and production, Motif was able to replicate the texture of animal tissue using plant proteins and plant-based carbohydrates. The company expects its texture technology to become available in 2022.

A hit in consumer testing
Using its holistic food-design expertise, Motif created a plant-based burger to showcase its taste and texture technologies to evaluate their performance with consumers. This kind of testing is an important step in creating and validating better plant-based ingredients for customers to use in their formulations.

The burger performed well across a series of focus groups, with 55% of participants saying they would eat the showcase burger every day, and 63% preferring it over a leading plant-based meat product at retail. Additional consumer reactions—along with photos and videos of the technologies' performance in the burger—can be found on Motif's blog, How FoodWorks. The company expects to provide further details around each technology as they come to market this year and next.

"The consumer results speak for themselves: our science-forward approach to solving the biggest challenges in the plant-based category is paying off," said Michele Fite, Chief Commercial Officer at Motif FoodWorks. "We're proud to bring these two game-changing technologies to market, and excited to continue to push the boundaries of what's possible in plant-based foods."

The news of Motif's new food technologies comes on the heels of a record-breaking $226 million Series B funding round, and recent acquisition of technologies that create melt and stretch in plant-based cheese, and healthier fat that marbleizes in plant-based meat.

About Motif FoodWorks
Motif FoodWorks is a food-technology company working to make plant-based foods better tasting, more nutritious and so desirable that people actually crave them. The company's mission is to unleash the promise of plant-based foods by taking a new, holistic approach to ingredient development that combines science and technology — merged with sensory fundamentals — to reveal totally new answers. By changing our understanding of plant-based food, Motif will enable crave-worthy products that exceed taste and experience expectations, unlocking benefits for people and our planet. For more information, visit www.madewithmotif.com.