Wheat and peas to imitate meat

The new factory, whose construction has started at Vitry-en-Artois (Pas-de-Calais), should be inaugurated at the end of 2021 for commissioning in early 2022, announced Thierry Maroye, CEO of Nxtfood, in a press release. A first fund raising, "in excess of €10 million, was carried out with Roquette Ventures, an investment company supporting pioneering innovations for the food, nutrition and health markets, and Creadev, the investment company of the Mulliez family" (Auchan, Decathlon, Leroy Merlin...). This fund-raising should finance "one of the largest French factories for alternative meat products", made from pea and wheat proteins. Nxtfood, created in 2019, has a production workshop in Villeneuve-d'Ascq (Nord) and already offers a "100% vegetable minced meat" (photo).

"Vegetal alternatives to meat are becoming more democratic and attract a growing part of the population, anxious to reduce their environmental impact and take care of their health", the press release continues. "This market already represents more than a billion dollars in the United States, and it is estimated that it could represent nearly 10% of the world market for conventional meat within 10 to 15 years, with double-digit growth over the next few years, according to AT Kearney and Barclays Research analysis in 2019. »