Prime Roots Raises $30M Series B for Deli Meat Made with Koji Mycelium
The typical supermarket deli is a sad mess of sulfites, nitrates, and preservatives that explode in your stomach. There have been a number of startups in the plant-based food space trying to create a healthier alternative to sliced cotto salami or slices of roast beef. One Berkeley-based company believes it has a healthy, delicious solution.
Prime Roots, a maker of deli meats made with koji mycelium, announced $30 million in Series B funding this month from True Ventures, Pangea Ventures, Prosus Ventures, Top Tier Capital, Diamond Edge Ventures, bringing their total funding to $50 million. The new funding will enable Prime Roots to scale and expand into restaurants and cafes. The company’s unique product is currently located primarily in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Growing up with a family in the food industry, Prime Roots founder and CEO Kimberlie Le knew the focus had to be a multi-pronged approach: the taste was right; Nutrition was also considered, and sustainability was also important.
“Because I come from a food background, I really wanted to emphasize flavor,” Le told Spoon in a recent interview. “We wanted to make sure that the products tasted good first and foremost. When we started six years ago, we were also thinking about nutrition and product hygiene. At that time, legacy brands had a long list of ingredients and a lot of unpronounceable ingredients. I really wanted to fix that because it was not everything that my mother, who is a chef, would want to get for herself or any chef in her restaurant. that really met the consumer where they are and really solved a personal problem for conscientious eaters.”
Prime Roots approaches the deli case with its slightly meaty texture, and its plant-based umami taste. Experienced chefs have helped develop the deli’s most popular products—including cracked pepper turkey, black forest meat, hickory bacon, salami, and pepperoni—to mimic the sweet, meaty flavor, and texture consumers want for meat substitutes. According to the company, Prime Roots’ turkey and ham are free of nitrates, preservatives, cholesterol, soy, wheat and have lower sodium than leading products.
Koji is a type of fungus used for a variety of culinary purposes, including the production of alcoholic beverages such as sake or spices such as miso and mirin. In the case of deli meat creation, koji ignites the fermentation process when added to other basic ingredients. Some companies such as Meati and Aqua Culture Foods use koji in their production of other proteins.
Le said that as part of his diligence, he visited many restaurants around the country including New York, the center of all things beef and pastrami. The goal was to see how these historic restaurants would receive the new product.
“When we were still working on the concept, the concept of serving,” recalls Le, “The first thing we did when we had the first prototypes was to go to New York, which is really a deli mecca and we had prototypes that we could put in some of the most popular dishes and say, ‘Hey, try this’ to see how open and receptive these deli people were and how deli culture can be found.
“The amazing thing is that we didn’t get kicked out in one place, and everyone was so excited to put the meat on their slicer. They were amazed at how they looked, the cutting skills, and they were so open and happy.”
