Harvest B to serve up world-first meat-and-wheat shandy

Food ingredient company Harvest B has announced that it will launch lamb and beef blended meat products, which it says are world firsts and have been developed to make animal meat more affordable, sustainable and nutritious.

In a statement on Tuesday, the company said it will collaborate with the animal protein industry to offer a “50:50 ratio of animal- to plant-protein” in diced meat. 

The slow-cooked product, which will come pre-prepared for ease of use in the food service industry, has been created to address “health, inflationary, climate and geopolitical issues” currently impacting food supply and offering the same taste and texture of regular meats. 

The products will have a claimed 30 per cent increase in protein per serve, more fibre, halved cholesterol, total and saturated fat content, up to 46 per cent reduction in paddock to plate emissions and other benefits over pure meat.

“You still have the same great tasting meat product but with half the saturated fat and cholesterol, more fibre, iron and vitamin B-12 but at a cost per serve value that is 30 per cent better than current protein products – this is a win-win for consumers and the food service industry,” said CEO and Co-founder of Harvest B, Kristi Riordan.

“Historically, animal protein has been blended with other ingredients to achieve cost reductions in products like sausages, burgers and meatballs. We wanted to leap forward into the next generation of products with something that addresses affordability in our current inflationary environment, but also improves nutrition in a higher quality protein product.”

Harvest B was established in 2020 and designs and produces analogues for a variety of meat types, such as beef, pork and chicken, using wheat from Narrabri, NSW as their main ingredient. It has developed a proprietary combination of plant proteins and extrusion technology, allowing it to avoid the use of binders and additives.

The move isn’t an apparently dramatic departure for the company, which has avoided putting itself forward as anti-animal meat, and as creating another protein source to complement it. (For example in this interview with Riordan on the @AuManufacturing Conversations podcast.)

It follows Harvest B’s move into consumer offerings, announced in November, through Woolworths’ Healthylife.com.au online platform.

Picture: Harvest B Leadership Team: Alfred Lo, Daniel Clampett, Daniel Mullette, Kristi Riordan (supplied)

Further reading

Harvest B to begin exports with NZ distro deal

Manufactor hub at Penrith opens for business

Harvest B gets distribution through Healthylife

Gluten and grumpy old men