Trending Mush Foods partnered with Pat LaFrieda to launch the new LaFrieda 50CUT Burger in 2024. HALFWAY THERE C onventional 50/50 Foods (which and Choppy to Perdue and Hormel, are also selling or testing meat/plant combinations. “I love food. I know that most of us are not going to be vegan or vegetarian. And I know that people care mostly about themselves and their loved ones, not about ‘save the planet or the cows,’” says Shalom meat purists and alt-meat makes Both Burger) fans alike tend to look down on those products that com-bine both, but the “blended” sector of the market is nearing an inflection point. Consider that recently, Pat LaFrieda and Dufour Gourmet, a charcuterie provid-er, have joined the market, where players from Phil’s Finest, Mush Foods 49 Percent of consum-ers who believe plant-based foods are healthier than traditional meat Source: Survey conducted by PBFI, Kroger and 84.51° Daniel, founder and in New York City. Mush makes a pow-der out of different types of mycelium, need too much sea-“I’m adding fiber, vitamins that you CEO of Mush Foods soning,” Daniel says. don’t have in the meat by itself, and you’re eating vegetables.” “Instead of trying to take something away or convince con-sumers to eat some-thing that they’ve never had before, we said, ‘Okay, you like meat, you put roasted mushrooms and car-amelized onions on which is substituted by the likes of Pat LaFrieda for some portion of the meat in a sausage or burger. “When you eat this, you could reduce 50% of the cholesterol, 50% of the saturated fat, 20% of the sodium because you don’t 4 Alt-Meat February 2025
Alt-Meat February 2025: Page 4
