Hemp-based meat: New Zealand firm eyes 2021 launch for minimally processed, sustainable new product
New Zealand alternative protein firm Sustainable Foods told us back in August that it is planning a 2021 launch for its hemp-based meat analogues, which will be made will locally-grown hemp and processed using a private hydroelectric power plant.
The hemp-based meat will be marketed under the firm’s retail brand The Craft Meat Co, which already sells a range of plant-based products including mince, burgers, sausages and ready meals.
“Most of our products already include some hemp for its nutritional value, but the new meat analogue will be using hemp as its base which means it will have a total consumable protein content that is higher than even that of animal-based protein sources due to hemp being naturally so high in protein,” Sustainable Foods Co-founder Kyran Rei told FoodNavigator-Asia.
“Hemp-based meat will also contain very high levels of dietary fibre, up to 19% of the recommended dietary intake (RDI), an benefit that is not available from traditional animal meat or in many other plant-based meats.”
“Hemp is a very viable crop for New Zealand growing conditions, and we are partnering with medical cannabis producer Greenfern Industries as our exclusive grower to make our hemp-based meat analogues from 100% locally-grown hemp.”
Rei also highlighted that Greenfern Industries had built its own hydroelectric power plant, complete with a dam and electricity generator, and this would power the processing and production of its products, vastly increasing the sustainability of its processes.
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