A new meat-alternative manufacturer, V2food, has been set up in Australia backed by a group of investors, including the government.

V2food was founded in October as a partnership between the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and Australian businessman Jack Cowin’s Competitive Foods Australia. He also owns Hungry Jack’s, a fast-food franchise of Burger King.

The business was backed by CSIRO’s Innovation Fund, which is managed by Main Sequence Ventures, as part of the Australian government’s National Innovation and Science Agenda, while Competitive Foods Australia contributed seed funding to help launch the start-up. 

V2food is described as a “sustainable, plant-based alternative to meat” and is led by former Masterfoods and PepsiCo research director Nick Hazell. CSIRO provided research and development resources to V2food in a so-called “research-for-equity arrangement”.

CSIRO said it anticipates the plant-based meat category in Australia will be worth more than AUD6bn (US$4.06bn) by 2030.

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Chief executive Hazell said: “We are on a journey to make plant-based food both taste better and be more sustainable. The protein substitutes available to date simply don’t taste as good as meat and they are not affordable.

“We’ve drawn upon the best food, nutrition and sustainability science from CSIRO to develop a sustainable and nutritious product, with an unmatched texture and flavour. The goal is for our product to be a delicious alternative to meat, accessible to every Australian.”

V2food produces a range of plant-based meat products, including mince, made from legumes. However, because Australia does not have the capability to process legumes for plant-based meat alternatives, the company, with the help of CSIRO, is working on developing capabilities.

Karen Andrews, minister for industry, science and technology, said: “This is an exciting opportunity for Australian grain farmers to be at the forefront of this growing market, which will help them grow and create new jobs. This isn’t about taking a share of the existing meat market, this is an additional opportunity to create a new market that could add AUD6bn to our economy by 2030.”

The start-up will roll out its products through the remainder of the year in local restaurants, starting with Hungry Jack’s, and “aims to have a leading presence in-store and in cafes around Australia by early 2020”.

Cowin added: “We seem to have the right resources for success. With CSIRO’s outstanding research and technology capabilities, the passion of the V2food team led by Nick Hazell and Competitive Foods Australia’s ability to help build and commercialise businesses, we believe that we have the ingredients for a successful venture. We’ve seen a huge opportunity for plant-based proteins and the category is set to explode.”