California-based Optimized Foods, a food technology company specializing in mycelium-based products, is leveraging its proprietary MycoCarrier™ platform to create sustainable and nutritious alternatives to conventionally animal-based foods.
The company’s innovations include Cultivated Caviar, a fish-free substitute for traditional caviar, produced through advanced biomanufacturing techniques.
Mycelium, the root structure of fungi, is at the core of Optimized Foods’ approach. The MycoCarrier™ platform uses spherical mycelium to convert agricultural byproducts into high-value food products. This process aims to enhance the taste, texture, and nutritional value of these products while also addressing significant challenges in the food industry, such as the need for sustainable fat replacements and nutrient bioavailability.
Fish-free caviar
One of the company’s inaugural products is branded as Cultivated Caviar. Traditionally, caviar is harvested from wild sturgeon, a practice that has led to the overfishing of the species, now listed as endangered.
Optimized Foods’ caviar, however, is grown in a lab using cells from sturgeon and edible mycelium scaffolding, drastically reducing the environmental impact and resource consumption associated with caviar production.
This scaffold not only provides structural support but also contributes to the final product’s texture, closely mimicking that of traditional caviar. The company claims that this method allows for the production of premium caviar within just one month, compared to the decade-long process required for conventional farming.
Plant-based fat
In addition to the caviar, Optimized Foods has developed HYphat, a plant-based fat ingredient designed to replicate the sensory experience of animal-derived fats. HYphat is created using the same mycelium technology and is tunable, allowing for size, color, and texture adjustments to meet specific product requirements. The ingredient melts slowly during cooking, similar to animal fat, and is intended for use in alternative protein and plant-based products.
“HYphat represents the future of food innovation”
The company states that HYphat is “a game-changer in the alt-protein industry, as it has the remarkable ability to encapsulate and give structure to any oil, elevating the taste, juiciness, and nutritional value of alternative protein products. We firmly believe that HYphat represents the future of food innovation, unlocking new possibilities for creating mouthwatering, healthy, and sustainable food options.”
Optimized Foods will present its innovations at the upcoming Proveg New Food Conference, one of Europe’s leading events in the food industry. The company has also been selected as one of five startups in the 12th cohort of the ProVeg Incubator accelerator program, demonstrating its growing influence in the sector.