High-protein hemp is in the spotlight as New Zealand-based company Sustainable Foods has announced their next plant-based meat product will feature the locally grown protein. The new product will launch in 2021 under the company’s Craft Meat Co. brand, which already produces a number of plant-based meat alternatives.
Sustainable Foods co-founder Kyran Rei said although many of their products already contain hemp due to its favourable nutritional properties, the new product will be the first with 100% of its protein coming from hemp. Rei said this translates to the new plant-based meat having “protein content that is higher than even that of an animal-based protein source,” as well as containing up to 19% of the recommended dietary intake (RDI) of dietary fibre, “a benefit that is not available from traditional animal meat.”
The hemp used by Sustainable Foods is exclusively grown by New Zealand company Greenfern Industries, which has built its own hydroelectricity plant. This plant will power the processing and production of the New Zealand-grown crop into hemp-based meat, further contributing to the new product’s sustainability credentials.
READ MORE: Hemp-based meat: New Zealand firm eyes 2021 launch for minimally processed, sustainable new product [Food Navigator-Asia]