{"id":178543,"date":"2025-04-09T09:20:44","date_gmt":"2025-04-09T09:20:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/agriculture\/mycotechnology-discontinued-alt-protein-biz-last-year-reveals-ceo\/"},"modified":"2025-04-09T09:20:44","modified_gmt":"2025-04-09T09:20:44","slug":"mycotechnology-discontinued-alt-protein-biz-last-year-reveals-ceo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=178543","title":{"rendered":"MycoTechnology discontinued alt protein biz last year, reveals CEO"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Fungi fermentation specialist MycoTechnology<\/a> has discontinued its fermented plant proteins and shelved plans to produce a fungi-based meat alternative in Oman in order to focus on its core flavor modulation and sweetening portfolio, says CEO Jordi Ferre.<\/p>\n

An industry veteran with stints on his resume at Tate & Lyle, PureCircle and Chupa Chups, Ferre joined Colorado-based MycoTechnology in January, taking over from CTO Ranjan Patnaik, who had been serving as interim CEO since May 2024 following the departure of Mike Leonard.<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore I arrived, there had already been some radical changes to move away from alternative proteins as we decided to focus on FMPs [flavors with modifying properties] and sweeteners,\u201d Ferre told AgFunderNews<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I think with my background in non-caloric sweeteners and flavor modulators, I can bring the leadership to make it happen,\u201d said Ferre, who described MycoTechnology as \u201cwell-funded, but not yet profitable.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for the alt meat plant in Oman<\/a>, which was set to become operational this year fueled by feedstocks from upcycled dates, \u201cThere were a lot of trips and discussions, but in the end, it did not happen,\u201d said Ferre.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it was an interesting idea, but Oman is a long way away, we don\u2019t have an army of people, and we need to focus on executing what we can do well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oman Investment Authority<\/a> (OIA), which led an $85 million Series E round in MycoTechnology in March 2022, \u201ccontinues to sit on our board and is very supportive of what we\u2019re doing,\u201d he explained. \u201cThe fact that we did not do that plant in Oman does not mean that they have pulled back. They\u2019re very involved and very supportive.\u201d<\/p>\n

60% growth in Clear IQ in 2024<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Funded by $220+ million from investors including OIA\u00a0and\u00a0Nourish Ventures<\/a> (Griffith Foods\u2019 VC arm), MycoTechnology sees \u201ca lot more potential\u201d to grow its flagship product, natural flavor ClearIQ<\/a>\u200b\u200b\u200b, said Ferre.<\/p>\n

Produced in fermentation tanks by mushroom mycelium, Clear IQ can enhance certain flavors and offset bitter, sour, or astringent notes in everything from high intensity sweeteners to plant proteins, botanicals, coffee, and cocoa.<\/p>\n

The ingredient\u2014which Ferre says is profitable\u2014is now used by 100+ customers in a range of products from protein beverages to dietary supplements and over the counter drugs, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is doing very well. Last year, we grew over 60% and this year we continue to do double-digit growth. I think we have a lot more potential to grow, especially with large food and beverage companies. So I\u2019ve been making sure we have the right team in place to sell to the big guys.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for potential applications, he said, \u201cWe don\u2019t really call it a bitter blocker now. We like to call it a flavor harmonizer in the sense that it can suppress or reduce the off notes when you use certain ingredients in your formulation but it can also enhance certain flavor notes, so it\u2019s a very multipurpose ingredient.\u201d<\/p>\n

Honey truffle platform<\/strong><\/h4>\n

MycoTechnology is also betting big on new product Clear HT, a flavor modulator from an ultra sweet protein<\/a> found in rare honey truffles that MycoTechnology is producing more cost effectively via precision fermentation, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cClear HT has just got GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe) status from the Flavor and Extract Manufacturers Association (FEMA) for use as a flavor with modifying properties, and we expect to have a good amount of product available this summer.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re manufacturing small amounts [in-house] but we\u2019re also working with an external CDMO. So we\u2019re not putting in more capex, we\u2019re using somebody else\u2019s capabilities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clear HT enhances flavors such as citrus and caramel, and offers new ways to modulate sweetness, so it can \u201ctake a little bit off the off notes you get from [stevia-based sweetener] Reb A,\u201d he said. This might mean that food companies could use Reb A instead of the more pricey but better-tasting steviol glycoside Reb M in some formulations, for example.<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cWe also have a sweetener from the honey truffle platform, which has a different type of spec to Clear HT and would have higher usage permissions.\u201d This would likely be labeled as \u2018honey truffle sweet protein\u2019 or \u2018honey truffle sweetener,\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n

While there are no silver bullets in the world of sugar reduction, he noted, formulators need more tools in the high-intensity natural sweetening toolbox, which right now only contains monk fruit, stevia, and, most recently, the sweet protein brazzein.<\/p>\n

Fermentation as a Service<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Asked about MycoTechnology\u2019s Fermentation as a Service (FaaS) initiative<\/a>, pitched by then-CEO Alan Hahn in late 2023 as a way to sweat the firm\u2019s fermentation assets, Ferre said:<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m open to it, but see it more as a strategic tool, not just I will manufacture for you, but is there a way we could partner in any way, in go to market, or even in cross investment, or something like that?<\/p>\n

\u201cI cannot say more now, but this could help us develop more strategic relationships.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fungi fermentation specialist MycoTechnology has discontinued its fermented plant proteins and shelved plans to produce a fungi-based meat alternative in Oman in order to focus on its core flavor modulation and sweetening portfolio, says CEO Jordi Ferre. An industry veteran with stints on his resume at Tate & Lyle, PureCircle and Chupa Chups, Ferre joined […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":178545,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12026],"tags":[45995,32389,11527,4911,70798,70797,14192,13640,629],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-178543","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-agriculture","tag-alt","tag-biz","tag-ceo","tag-discontinued","tag-mycotechnology","tag-precision-fermentation","tag-protein","tag-reveals","tag-year"],"yoast_head":"\nMycoTechnology discontinued alt protein biz last year, reveals CEO - Som2ny Network<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=178543\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"MycoTechnology discontinued alt protein biz last year, reveals CEO - Som2ny Network\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Fungi fermentation specialist MycoTechnology has discontinued its fermented plant proteins and shelved plans to produce a fungi-based meat alternative in Oman in order to focus on its core flavor modulation and sweetening portfolio, says CEO Jordi Ferre. 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