Shanghai-based Haofood, pioneer in the development of plant-based chicken from peanuts, will take its proprietary protein Innotein to the next phase of growth following a cash injection of US$3.5 million. The company will diversify its channel sales strategy and advance its R&D infrastructure facility to grow the domestic business and expand through Asia.

“Taste is the only thing that will win over picky customers in China. Consumers here aren’t sold by ideas, instead they are very practical and want a good taste and texture,” Astrid Prajogo, founder and CEO, Haofood, tells FoodIngredientsFirst. 

“Peanuts contain a very high glutamic and aspartic acid, which enables them to have a very natural umami flavor that works well for our product. The texture is developed using our designed protein and processing.”

Proprietary technology for taste evolution
Haofood’s proprietary Innotein protein is the basis of the plant-based chicken products made with modified textured peanuts and creates a distinctive texture and umami taste profile. Peanuts make up the central part of the protein, accompanied by vegetable oil, starch and water. 

“We incorporated peanuts by first taking its protein, then creating textured vegetable protein and after processing that further as plant-based meat,” explains Prajogo. Using Innotein, Haofood creates the textured peanut for their plant-based chicken.

With this round of funding, the company will construct an R&D facility to facilitate further product innovation and improve its product portfolio.

“We are a product-driven company. We believe that high product performance is essential to winning consumers’ hearts. So improving our R&D is the first step to this. only by focusing on that can we create a better quality of product in a much more effective, efficient and accurate way,” says Prajogo.

“Our focus is China because it is the world’s most populous country. So if we want to make a great impact on the planet, China is a good place to start.”

Water-saving properties of alt-chicken
Haofood is mindful of building itself as a sustainable brand. Saving water through product development is equally important as reducing its carbon emission footprint. about 15 liters of water is used to produce 283 g of shelled peanuts compared to the 2,128 liters needed for chicken, 937 liters for soybeans and 627 liters for wheat.

Prajogo continues: “Working with scientists, they often need an academic or scientific theory to work from. We need a high level of innovation to develop our products, we are creating something from nothing through experimentation. Yet, at the same time, we require a very high level of quality. So this can be quite conflicting.”

Haofood first launched in China to consumers in July 2021 with an Asian fried chicken alternative. Monde Nissin, Rich Products Ventures, and Big Idea Ventures are among the co-investors of this round of seed funding.

In the same category, Plenitude, a group of sustainable food partners led by Enough Food, has set out to build a mycoprotein facility in Sas van Gent, positioned to hit the highest output, in the south of the Netherlands, of alternative protein among alt-meat ingredient manufacturers this decade.

Meanwhile, the Japanese government is introducing new labeling legislation for plant-based food packaging amid efforts to ease restrictions and increase consumer transparency.