Alt Meat Ambition
From radical transparency to Guinness World Records, Planted is the alternative meat startup taking Switzerland by storm. In this week’s episode we chat to Christoph Jenny, one of Planted’s four co-founders, about his journey to starting the company and their approach to innovation. We also discuss their (literally) see-through production process, the benefits of having their own factory, and the power that can arise from being faced with a challenge.
Chris’ background is atypical for those working in the food industry; but as someone from the investment world, the transition had advantages in helping him to start his own business.
Chris: “I think I got to work with some pretty amazing entrepreneurs, seeing how they build their companies … what they did right, and one or two things I would have done different.”
Chris: “That really helped in the beginning; understanding what it takes, what you have to get right, especially around culture.”
Since it was our first time interviewing a Swiss startup we were curious to hear what the attitude has been towards the plant-based food movement in general.
Chris: “It’s probably a little bit behind in the curve versus [countries like] the U.S., but I think the general attitude and understanding, especially with regards to the wellbeing of animals, I think is pretty deeply rooted.”
Chris:“I think the big difference is really the clean label; the ingredient list is extremely important to people here, and they really check it.”
This is the reason behind why Planted has decided to take a very clean approach, with products being made primarily of proteins, fibres, water.
First generation products include a plant-based chicken (made from yellow peas, water and rapeseed oil), with second products such as pulled pork, kebabs and Schnitzels following (a step that Chris sees as Planted’s transition towards whole-cut).
But why start with chicken? The answer is relatively simple for planted: the nexus of what was technically possible, as well as highly consumed.
Chris: “The early focus was very much on burgers and beef but actually here, and if you look at statistics worldwide, people eat a lot of chicken.”
Chris: “It was always deemed as the healthier meat, so we thought to offer something in that space was extremely important.”
However the perception of chicken already being a healthier meat may present disadvantages. We asked Chris to find out Planted’s experience.
Chris: “I think people chose chicken because they thought it was the better alternative to eating beef, but I don’t think they were really happy with the value proposition.”
Chris: “If you look at how chickens are being raised, at how the whole industry works and the extremely negative impact it has … I think [consumers] were craving a better solution.”
It took the team at Planted 6 months from having an idea to completing the first market testing.
Chris: “We did it with restaurants … and that exploded pretty quick.”
Chris: “Restaurants started selling directly to consumers … that’s when we launched our web-shop … which is maybe a bit different from a lot of brands.”
Chris: “I think we’re literally the first brand to do this, and that gave us from the beginning a strong community and an understanding of what the consumer actually wants.”
As a result of surveys and constant consumer feedback, Chris says that they’re able to have fast development cycles and know where to innovate on new and existing products.
Chris: “I think we have a very strong mission overall, which is to be better than meat.”
Chris: “We believe that it’s four dimensions; taste, price, environment and then consumer health. We believe that we’re now on some products starting to fill that promise but if you look at the overall market impact … you see how much more work we have to do.”
Chris: “We’re an R&D company, we have 150 people … and our journey is really to get to a steak that is better than the animal equivalent.”
This innovation can extend all the way back to the supply chain to looking at the genetic of plants, and what properties you get from each species.
Chris: “We go very far in the value chain and try to understand what makes a good protein and how can we assemble good proteins so that they build a good structure.”
Chris: "“How we bring the mimics of meat into [however], is through process, not through additives.”
With a third of the company dedicated to R&D it seems like an ambitious but achievable goal for the startup.
Chris: “It’s a pretty big machine, that really goes to the goal to create meat that is better than animals.”
On top of their large R&D team, Planted also stands out in another way: their radical transparency.
Chris: “I think it was something I always had as a consumer, wondering is this really true?”
Chris: “There are a lot of ways [to enhance transparency] … we do LCAs and audits on all of the products with third-parties who can verify our claims, but we wanted to go a step further.”
This meant going all the way to the factory-level, with Planted providing guided tours and a (literally) see through glass box that means the production space and process can be seen from the outside.
However, some might argue that such transparency presents a great risk to the startup with people coming to get ideas for their own company. Nonetheless, Chris doesn’t see it that way.
Chris: "We believe that we have such a strong trajectory of technology we’re bringing in to market in the next 18-36 months that essentially we’re not too concerned if somebody looks at our set up today and wants to replicate it, because we’ll be much further.”
Chris: “We try to protect IP … but other than that we have such a high degree of innovation that we’ve decided that if somebody wants to copy our set up to make a good product, then that’s also good for the whole movement.”
The decision to have their own factory is also significant, given the fact that Planted remains a relatively early-stage startup. We asked Chris about the logic behind the decision.
Chris: “We realised extremely fast that our knowledge and our process is much more advanced than the industry standard.”
Chris: “So we came to the conclusion that if we would have co-manufacturers we’d have to get them up to speed and teach them how to do it, and in the meantime it’s probably faster and more efficient if we set up our own factory.”
Through the process of setting up their factory, the team at Planted have been able to identify 3 key strengths:
Continued ability to innovate: If the team has something equipment-wise on a lab or pilot scale, having their own factory enables them to roll it out without discussing it with a co-manufacturer
In control of your own destiny: Chris recalls seeing a lot of companies struggling with co-manufacturers, while Planted could still ship and deliver their own product. It provided a realisation that there is a capacity constraint in the industry, as well as constraint on general quality which can be bypassed through having your own facility.
Transparency: Having a Planted facility means that the startup can commit to their value of radical transparency; they can show consumers the facility and where the product comes from.
The manifestation of these strengths can also be seen in Planted’s setting of a new Guinness World Record for longest Schnitzel of 119 metres.
Chris: “We wanted to show that our fibres can be insanely long … because we have a better process. We wanted to show that our product is better than the animal product.”
The event showed the world not only what they can do as a company, but also that it’s a good product (as people ate it all very quickly).
Chris: “The really amazing thing is it was more the junior team that pulled it together on all fronts; be that on the production of the machinery, on running the world record attempt [and] to making sure we get decent coverage from it.”
Chris: “The really good thing was that us founders were not really involved in this, so it was also for the organisation a really amazing project to grow.”
Chris: “It was tough also, not everything was that straightforward, so I think overall it was a good exercise to show that if you give people ownership, a clear mission and a clear target, they can do amazing things.”
The broader lesson?
Chris: “I think if you challenge people with an idea, with something difficult, they excel and they develop new ways and tools to get there which can then flow into the regular business.”
As for their approach to expansion Planted plans on taking a local approach with on-the-ground teams for each country, rather than being HQ heavy.
Chris: “We believe in empowering teams and taking responsibility.”
Chris: “We’re working to have the perfect product by 2025; we believe that it’s absolutely crucial and fundamental to understand what the consumer wants, and I don’t think you find that just through consumer studies and a few trials.”
Chris: “That’s why we believe it’s important to be in the market, not just the Swiss market … but to have an international presence and get different experiences and understandings on how the whole system works and how to best integrate to capture the biggest market share.”
Looking to the future, Chris says that consumers can expect Planted to begin making bigger pieces, and integrate better with meat application processes.
Chris: “At some point in the future I do see us departing from trying to get close to a piece of animal meat, and trying to create something that is better and different than what we are used to eating today.”
To follow and stay in touch you can follow Planted here, or visit their website.