Meati Foods, which produces animal-free, whole-food protein made from mushroom root, announced its newly-opened industrial-scale production facility in Thornton, Colo., in part financed by its oversubscribed Series C round which brings total funding to date to more than $250 million. Dubbed the "Mega Ranch," the fully integrated, resource-efficient manufacturing operation is expected to cultivate Meati at an annual rate of tens of millions of pounds by late 2023, making it a producer of animal-free meat at a scale that will match and often exceed that of the United States' largest individual animal-based ranches, the company states.

“Investors and consumers recognize that Meati is a new, differentiated food. They only need to read our simple ingredient list and taste Meati to recognize that this is the cut-through option people have been waiting for – something they absolutely see weekly if not daily on their plates,” says Tyler Huggins, CEO and co-founder of Meati Foods. “Our belief that nature already has the answer to many of today’s challenges allowed us to unlock a new food with Meati at a time when consumers are demanding something different and better. Meati delivers an unparalleled food with its taste, texture, nutrition and purity, and we’re thrilled to open this first and subsequent phases of the resource-efficient ‘Mega Ranch’ facility to help even more consumers add it to their diets.”

Designed to scale Meati to an omnichannel, national footprint by late 2023, Meati claims that the Mega Ranch is unique in its vertically integrated approach, with the growing, harvesting, processing and packaging of Meati products under one roof. Able to grow a teaspoon of spores into hundreds of cows’ equivalent of whole-food protein in just a few days, Meati’s proprietary production processes coupled with its unique mushroom root create a nearly infinitely scalable platform, the company says. The Eat Meati product line is produced at the Mega Ranch and currently includes the Classic Cutlet, Crispy Cutlet, Classic Steak and Carne Asada Steak.

“The next few years will see a seismic shift in how we eat, and Meati’s state-of-the-art, scalable production capabilities coupled with its focus on meeting consumer needs for clean, whole-food protein make it clear they are positioned to lead,” says Fazeela Abdul Rashid, partner at Revolution Growth and member of the Meati Foods board. “Tyler and the team have a vision for a new food category with pure ingredients and taste that doesn’t compromise. We are excited to continue working with them to reach the next level and bring Meati to more consumers across the U.S.”