2022
Note: For the most actual and detailed information, visit Good Food Institute:

Vegetarian Meat

 
 

 

The following is a short overview of existing alternatives to meat:

Wheat Gluten / Seitan

Wheat gluten is also known as seitan. It consists of the protein components gliadin and glutenin which are isolated from wheat by rinsing the wheat dough until the starch and bran have been washed out. It is the most cost effective and most simple raw material for producing vegetarian sausages, burgers, nuggets, schnitzel as well as minced meat. In addition, wheat is a crop that is native to a majority of countries, the production of seitan is possible on a regional level. The simple production method gives rise to a consistency which is remarkably similar to the stringy fibres that make up the consistency of meat. Seitan can be seasoned and prepared in a huge variety of ways.

Wikipedia articles about seitan
Seitan recipes
Websites with uses for seitan
General information about seitan

Tofu

Tofu is a traditional Asian foodstuff and the basis for meat replacements made from soya. It is made by adding a coagulant to soya milk and compressing the resulting protein solids until the required consistency is achieved. Tofu is easily digested and contains all essential amino acids. Unlike seitan, tofu does not have a meat-like consistency, it can be seasoned in many different ways and is delicious smoked.

Wikipedia once again
Tofu, one of the healthiest foods in the world

Soya Meat

Soya meat, or to be exact; “textured vegetable protein” (TVP), is produced from soya beans in many Asian countries. The production method is somewhat laborious but, the end product has a fibrous consistency which is very similar to meat. With different seasonings a great variety of flavours can be achieved. Soya meat is extremely rich in protein, protein content is over 50%.

Wikipedia
Information about soya meat

Tempeh

Tempeh is a traditional fermented food from Indonesia, it is made by the controlled fermentation of cooked soya beans with a Rhizopus mold. The tempeh fermentation by the Rhizopus mold binds the soya beans into a compact white cake. Tempeh is not fibrous like meat. It contains, amongst others, many B vitamins, has a high protein content and is very versatile.

Information about tempeh
Wikipedia
What is tempeh?

Quorn

Quorn is an innovation from the English company Marlow Foods. It is made from a fermented fungus which is processed and textured to produce a food which can be easily mistaken for meat. Quorn products include steaks, burgers, chicken breasts as well as sliced meats and ready meals such as lasagne. Quorn is available from supermarkets in many European countries and in parts of the USA. However, Quorn is not animal-free as egg white is used as a binding ingredient.

Quorn-Home
Wiki Quorn

OTHERS

The seeds of sweet lupines can be used for vegetarian meat production, too. Meatless for example is made of 100% vegetable fibres, made from lupine or wheat. The fibres are produced in different shapes, flavours and colours. Meatless is used for meat-substitute products as well as for developing “hybrid products”, which are meat-products in which a huge portion of the meat is replaced by Meatless.
Another option for producing vegetarian meat alternatives can be algae, Remis Algen shows such an approach.
Sprouted soybeans can also be basis for meat replacements, an example is Yaso.
Another innovative approach is using fresh mushrooms like the company Fresh'shrooms does.
Rice protein or pea protein is also already in use for the production of vegetarian as well as vegetable fibres by the companies ProViand and Wiefleisch.
Furthermore Neat uses nuts (pecans) and garbanzo beans as main ingredients.

And Impossible Foods is breaking new grounds with their mission to create the perfect plant based "beef burger" with heme (haem) from plants as "bloody juice".
The Dutch team of Atze Jan van der Goot promises plant based steaks with perfect texture using their so called "shear-cell technology".
3D-printed meat made from plant based ingredients is a promising technology, too - check out NovaMeat or Redefine Meat.

General Links

Bill Gates promotes Future of Food - meat and egg alternatives

GFI Report on plant based meat, eggs and dairy, 2020


Remarkable intermediate products for the production of vegetarian meats:
Meatless, vegetable fibres, made from lupine or wheat (Meatless, NL)
Plenti (Beeter), soy based intermediate products (Ojah b.v., NL)
Syral vital wheat gluten for vegetarian meat analogues (Tereos Syral, F)
Proteins from wheat, soy, potato, rice, pea, lupines, ... (Agridient, NL)
Wheatex, textured wheat protein (MGP Ingredients, US)
Guanxian Ruixiang wheat gluten from China (CN)
Sinoglory - soy proteins from China (CN)
Wachsen - soy proteins from China (CN)
Ultra-Soy and Imagic (CHS, US)
Soy protein isolates / concentrates (Danisco)
Sonic Biochem - Indian soyameat-producer (IN)
Vippy Industries - Indian soyaproducts (IN)
Mahakali Foods - Indian soyaproducts (IN)
America Pampa - (texturized) soy proteins (AR)


Machinery for the production of vegetarian meats:
Mase, innovative tofu machines (also on youtube)
Dingrun - textured soy protein machines (CN)
Shengrun - textured soy protein machines (CN)
Jinan Tainuo - textured soy protein machines (CN)


Highly remarkable vegetarian meat products (alphabetical):
Amy's Kitchen - various veggy foods (US)
Au Lac - vegetarian meat products (Vietnam)
Beyond Meat - vegetarian "chicken meat" (US)
Cauldron - various meat alternatives (UK)
CKfoods - Taiwanese soyameat-producer
Field Roast Grain Meat (US)
Fry's - burgers, nuggets, schnitzels, .. (South Africa)
Gardein - innovative garden grown protein (USA, Can, UK)
Impossible Foods - "Bloody plant-based burgers" (US)
King - Australian tofu, veggie-meat, soy-cheese, soy-milk
LikeMeat - nuggets, schnitzel, steaks (Germany)
Linda McCartney Foods - sausages and burgers (UK)
Match Premium Meat Alternatives (US)
Moving Mountains - burgers and more (UK)
Omnipork / Right Treat - plant-based pork for China (CN)
Quorn - the totally different meat alternative (UK, intern.)
Redwood/VBites - beef-, chicken-, fish-, pork-style (UK, intern.)
Sojaprodukt - Slovak Vegetarian Meat (SK)
This (Isn't Chicken, Isn't Bacon) (UK)
Turtle Island Foods / Tofurky (US, Canada, UK)
Valsoia Italy - vegetarian meat
Vantastic Foods (AVE) - various meat alternatives (Germany)
Vegetarian Butcher - meat alternatives from the Netherlands
VegieVegie Premium Meat Alternative (Thailand)
Vivera - "Vish"sticks, steaks and much more (Netherlands)
Wheaty (Topas) Germany - prim. wheat-based vegetarian meat
Yaso - sprouted soybean-based meat replacement (Hun)