Finnish 'pulled oats' maker desires a bite of the meat substitutes market

Nordic oats and broad beans area unit the most ingredients for a brand new plant-based product that appears like force pork and tastes alittle like chicken that a Finnish start-up company hopes can shortly be tempting consumers' growing appetency for meat substitutes.

Maija Itkonen and Reetta Kivela, founders of the Finnish food technology start-up Gold & inexperienced Foods, decision the merchandise "pulled oats".

"The oats area unit sheared and heated below the correct conditions and combined with the beans. The amino acids that area unit lacking in oats area unit within the beans, so that they area unit a decent combination," aforementioned Kivela, a food soul, at a lunch period tasting session in an exceedingly native edifice in port.

"We have proprietary our production technique that permits United States to supply the fibrous texture of oats and beans" she aforementioned.

The company currently aims to own merchandise in stores in European nation and Scandinavian nation by the top of the year.

"We wish to initial prove our purpose in our home market so explore for licensing opportunities for additional enlargement," Itkonen aforementioned.

Consumers have already embraced protein-packed meat substitutes made up of wheat, soy and different beans, whereas newer corporations area unit pushing boundaries with merchandise supported fungi and insects in an exceedingly world market value $1.8 billion last year and projected to be value $2.2 billion by two020, per Euromonitor International.

The two leading players, that every have regarding thirteen p.c of the market, area unit Will Keith Kellog, that owns the U.S. brands Morningstar Farms and Gardenburger, and Monde Nissin firm from the Philippines, that last year bought British firm Quorn Foods for 700 million euros ($763 million).

Behind them area unit Nestle, Pinnacle Foods and Hain Celestial cluster.

Itkonen and Kivela, each in their thirties, solely started Gold & inexperienced in April last year as a results of Kivela's analysis on oats at the University of port.

Industrial designer Itkonen, WHO is chief government, brings her entrepreneurial skills to the venture, having supported wireless phone charger company Powerkiss in 2008 that was noninheritable  in 2013 by Powermat Technologies.

Gold & inexperienced says its product stands out from soy-based foods as a result of it's a non-GMO and doubtless gluten-free different and in contrast to the mycoprotein meat substitute Quorn, the oat-based product is additionally non-allergenic.

Nutrionist Heli Reinivuo from Finland's National Institute for Health and Welfare aforementioned the merchandise secure to be a healthy different to meat.

"It has smart quality macromolecule and high macromolecule content. It conjointly contains fibre referred to as beta-glucan ... i think we have a tendency to might suggest the merchandise to shoppers once it's on the market," she said.

Gold & inexperienced raised three hundred,000 euros last year and Itkonen aforementioned the corporate is currently yearning for a bigger total from its second funding spherical to line up and begin production.

"It seems like a product that might strike a chord with the massive trend of ecological consumption. within the western world, innovations during this sphere have a decent probability of succeeding," aforementioned Niclas Catani, associate equity analyst at OP money cluster.

"It can hardly bring a revolution long however the start-up will notwithstanding observe cash out of it."