Mooji Meats is a Harvard spinoff that has developed a premium plant-based ribeye steak with the aim of bringing meat alternatives to fine dining.
The company uses a proprietary platform to replicate muscle structure with plant fibers, claiming to offer the firmest texture and most authentic mouthfeel available. The plant-based steak is described as juicy with real marbling and connective tissues that mimic animal meat when cut.
“Steakhouses have become our fastest-growing group of customers”
Currently, the plant-based ribeye is being piloted at select upscale steakhouses on the East Coast. This includes Vinyl Steakhouse in Chelsea, Manhattan, where the dish is priced at $47. Larger partnerships will be announced later in the year.
“The perfect meat-free ribeye”
Mooji Meats was founded in 2022 and quickly saw success after participating in Y Combinator, a program that funds and mentors early-stage startups. The same year, the company raised $3 million in seed funding to advance its technology.
At the time, Mooji Meats said it was focusing on whole cuts because they make up 70% of the US meat market. The company has now filed a provisional patent, after previously developing initial patents at Harvard University.
Reports indicate that the plant-based steak market will be worth over $1 billion by 2032, with North America retaining the largest market share.
“When we launched our company, everyone told us it was impossible for a plant-based meat company to break into the steakhouse market,” said Mooji Meats co-founder and CEO Insa Mohr. “Looking back, we’re glad we didn’t listen and instead focused on creating the perfect meat-free ribeye specifically for steakhouses. Today, steakhouses have become our fastest-growing group of customers, and the feedback has been overwhelming. We’re not just creating new customers for them; we’re also piquing the curiosity of traditional meat eaters to try meat alternatives, which is precisely what we aim to achieve.”
