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Barcelona-based Heura<\/a>, a disrupter in the plant-based protein space since 2017, has a product hitting shelves shortly in Spain and France that it reckons will have the most committed meat eaters sitting up in disbelief. These new 100% plant-based \u201cJam\u00f3n York <\/em>style\u201d slices are not actual ham. They just look (and we\u2019re told taste) an awful lot like meat.<\/p>\n But \u2014 unlike actual ham \u2014 there\u2019s no known carcinogen risk<\/a> from consuming these vegan cold cuts. The startup also claims the nutritional profile of the product is superior to meat (with a 65% protein density) \u2014 touting no additives, beyond a little salt if you consider that an additive, which they say is a first for the category.<\/p>\n Heura is badging the product \u201cclean label\u201d which they say reflects a manufacturing process that does not involve ultraprocessing, chemical additives or other techniques seen elsewhere in the vegan meats category (e.g. wet extrusion).<\/p>\n They say they\u2019re essentially using a blend of heating, cooling, mixing and shearing (at specific pH ranges) to transform the handful of (familiar) ingredients used in the faux ham into a mass which resembles the texture and \u201csensation\u201d of meat. Taste follows on via the addition of \u201cnatural\u201d flavors.<\/p>\n Per Heura, the \u201cYork ham style\u201d slices run to some 10 ingredients. They\u2019re made from water, soy protein isolate, extra virgin olive oil, natural flavors, salt, and vegetable concentrates (radish, carrot, and paprika), lemon concentrate, iron, and vitamin B12. (The packet carries a nutritional rating of \u2018B\u2019 out of a possible A-E \u201cNutri-Score<\/a>\u201d range.)<\/p>\n The startup says it\u2019s using a novel (patent pending) \u201cthermo-mechanical\u201d technique to produce the fake ham, which it unveiled earlier this year at an event in London \u2014 and which it says eliminates the need for food additives, E-numbers, and \u201cany other chemically modified ingredients in plant-based food\u201d.<\/p>\n Accusations that alternative proteins sum to ultraprocessed \u2018frankenfoods\u2019 has been a common attack from the meat lobby \u2014 which likes to claim their products are \u201cnatural\u201d in comparison \u2014 a tactic which totally ignores the (known) health risks attached to consuming red meat products (like ham), not to mention the level of processing typically involved (which can include a number of additives and other unpleasant additions, like the growth hormones and antibiotics fed to animals, which then end up in the human food chain).<\/p>\n Heura\u2019s lead R&D scientist, Isa Fern\u00e1ndez, describes what it\u2019s cooked up with the patent-pending technique it\u2019s using to produce the York-style ham as \u201chigh science\u201d, more than high tech \u2014 so no ultraprocessing here, as she tells it. Instead she says the team are using mathematical modelling to perform microstructural design of plant proteins in order to derive textures and mouth-feel that can mimic meat, without the health and environmental downsides.<\/p>\n \u201cThis new scientific knowledge, and this new processing \u2014 the algorithms, and these mathematical models \u2014 were a key part in order to structure all these variables. Because, at the end, what we are doing is to go super deep down in the molecular structure of the ingredients, all the possible inputs for the process, and create algorithms that create these new outcomes that allow us to get to the results we are having,\u201d she told TechCrunch.<\/p>\n \u201cIn terms of processes\u2026 it\u2019s only these physical processes that we mentioned: Heating, heating and cooling, there\u2019s nothing more. With water. That\u2019s it,\u201d she added. \u201cAt the end, what we do to the ingredients, as we said, is just mixing with water, heating and cooling, but in a very, very controlled manner. It\u2019s hugely designed to the finest detail.\u201d<\/p>\n Naturally this 100% plant-based product is far better for the environment than meat-based products since the land use required to produce the soy beans, olives, vegetables etc used in Heura\u2019s faux ham are orders of magnitude smaller than are needed to produce the pigs whose proteins are found in meat-based pork products.<\/p>\n There are also no animal welfare issues when the proteins in the food are derived from vegetables.<\/p>\n There is still a price premium, though. So while a packet of Heura\u2019s faux ham has a similar price-tag to what you might find on a packet of traditional, pig-based ham \u2014 at least the more premium-priced cold cuts \u2014 you\u2019re getting substantially less food for your money.<\/p>\n Image credits: Heura<\/p>\n<\/div>\n In Spain, where Heura\u2019s alt jam\u00f3n york <\/em>will be hitting supermarket shelves this week (located in the charcuterie section), the price per packet is \u20ac2.99. However that\u2019s for just 78g (four slices) of product. Whereas you can buy a packet of 200g of pig-based ham in the same market for around \u20ac2. Which means there\u2019s still a considerable affordability gap when it comes to like-for-like product volume.<\/p>\n Vegan meat products have undoubtedly achieved great strides in quality in recent years \u2014 and Heura\u2019s York-style ham looks to be another big one \u2014 but they\u2019ve been unable to deliver the promise of price-parity with the meat products they\u2019ve got so good at mimicking.<\/p>\n These higher costs have capped consumer appetite to shell out for what are undoubtedly more environmentally-friendly alternatives \u2014 especially during the cost of living crisis with food inflation riding high and food budgets pinched. Hence we\u2019ve seen some shrinkage affecting startups<\/a>\u00a0in the category<\/a> over the last year or so, as sales growth has failed to pan out as hoped.<\/p>\n A family of four isn\u2019t going to get much lunch out of a single packet of Heura\u2019s York-style ham. They\u2019d need to purchase at least a couple of packets to ensure there\u2019s enough to go around \u2014 at which point the price-tag starts to look less tasty. So while the faux ham itself appears \u2014 at least to this vegetarian\u2019s eye \u2014 passing similar to actual animal flesh there\u2019s still a way to go to shrink production costs so that high quality vegan cuts can sell themselves on price alone.<\/p>\n Product diversification looks to be more of an immediate focus for Herua, though \u2014 which touts more cold cuts incoming to its product line.<\/p>\n It says the same \u201cthermo-mechanical\u201d technique can be applied to produce other types of deli meats from its soy-based protein. The technique could be used to produce breaded products, vegan cheeses and pasta (presumably a high protein form of pasta, since traditional paste is already vegan). So it\u2019s setting it sights on spreading more of its plant-based wares across the table-top of those who can afford to tuck in.<\/p>\n \u201cDeli meats is a big opportunity,\u201d says Heura co-founder, Bernat Ananos. \u201cIn Europe, it\u2019s the biggest processed meat that people consume and it\u2019s a \u20ac78 billion category. So we have a great opportunity there. And also, we are preparing big things in order to go into cheesy opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n