Unilever has partnered with food tech company ENOUGH, which will supply it with mycoprotein to fuel innovation behind its plant-based brands, starting with The Vegetarian Butcher.

ENOUGH, formerly 3F Bio, produces ABUNDA mycoprotein, a ‘complete’ food ingredient that contains all nine essential amino acids and is high in dietary fibre. According to ENOUGH, ABUNDA is versatile and can be made into alternative meat, seafood, and dairy products.

ABUNDA will initially be used by Unilever’s alt meat brand; The Vegetarian Butcher, and will be blended with other plant-based proteins to produce additional meat-like products under the brand.

ABUNDA is grown by feeding fungi with sugar feedstocks, sourced from sustainable grains, in a large-scale continuous fermentation process. The ingredient’s game changing nutritional profile, functional performance, low footprint and high protein conversion rates have proved a good fit for Unilever’s fast-growing plant-based brand.

According to ENOUGH, the impact of producing 1m tonnes of ABUNDA will be equivalent to replacing 5m cows, over 1bn chickens and reducing more than 5m tonnes of CO2 emissions.

‘Sustainability is at the heart of everything we do.’ ENOUGH Commercial Director Andrew Beasley says. ‘With demand for protein increasing at three times the rate of expected population growth, and demand for meat alternatives growing by over five times that of protein, traditional protein farming is unsustainable. To combat this, ENOUGH has developed a high-quality sustainable protein solution to that of traditional farming of animals for protein production.’

‘ENOUGH’s technology combines two stand-alone processes into a proprietary zero waste, integrated process to yield mycoprotein. Creating a zeroo-waste integrated process enables us to produce in the most efficient manner, and thereby creating more with less.’

Founded in 2015, Glasgow-based ENOUGH is currently building a ‘first of its kind’ mycoprotein factory in the Netherlands, which will have a 50,000tonne capacity. The company expects to initially grow 10,000 tonnes per annum when the facility is operational - by the end of 2022 - and has targeted production of over a million tonnes cumulatively within 10 years of its launch.

ENOUGH already has commitment for 75% of its initial capacity from a mix of global and regional brand partners and leading retailers, including a deal to supply UK retailer Marks and Spencer.

Working with Unilever aligns to ENOUGH’s ambitions to scale, says Andrew Beasley. ‘Producing vast quantities of healthy and sustainable protein is one of the most urgent global priorities. There’s a rapid transition in the food industry and we are excited with this collaboration with Unilever and The Vegetarian Butcher, which truly support our aim to create impact and scale.’

Find out more: https://www.enough-food.com/