Fable Food, a Sydney-based plant-based food startup, has announced funding. Blackbird Ventures, an Australian venture capital firm, led the seed round that raised $6.5 million AUD (about $4.8million USD). Other participants included agriculture and food tech venture firm AgFunder, sustainability-focused Aera VC and Better Bite Ventures, along with Singapore-based produce importer Ban Choon Marketing and former Sequoia Capital partner Warren Hogarth.Fable will launch in the United States at the end of the year. Fable products are sold in Australia at Woolworths, Coles, Harris Farm Markets, and Grilld. Grilld recently began serving the Meaty Mushroom Burger Pattie in 136 locations. Fables products can also be found in restaurants in Singapore, the United Kingdom and elsewhere.The startup was started in 2019 by Jim Fuller (fine dining chef), Chris McLoghlin (organic mushroom farmer), and Michael Fox (whose previous startup was Shoes of Prey).Fox, Fables' chief executive officer, said in an email to TechCrunch that he has recently become a vegan after becoming a vegetarian for six-years. This was for health, environmental, and ethical reasons.Fox stated that while many people are trying to cut down on meat consumption, they have difficulty doing so because they love meat's taste and texture. Fox spoke to his friends and family. Fox wanted to find a way for people to switch to plant-based food. He spoke with several chefs and suggested mushrooms as a base. Fox then met McLoghlin and Fuller, who were working on meat substitutes using mushrooms.Fox said that they realized they shared similar values and goals, and had complementary skills. We had a common goal to end industrial agriculture. We wanted to make the food system more sustainable, ethical, and healthy.Fables' first products include a substitute to pulled pork, braised beef, and beef brisket. Fuller grew up in Texas and loved slow-cooked meats so he wanted to recreate that experience. Fox explained that shiitake mushrooms are very flavorful and rich in natural umami flavors. They are slow-growing mushrooms so they naturally have the fleshy fibres that give you the meaty bite that you normally get from animal protein.Fables' chief science officer is Fuller. The startup draws on his expertise as a chef/chemical engineering/mycologist to produce the perfect combinations of flavor, texture and aroma while keeping the processing costs to a minimum. Its braised beef substitute is made with shiitake mushrooms and seven other ingredients, as well as salt and pepper.Fable also announced today that Dan Joyce, a former safety and compliance software company SafetyCultures general manger for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, has been appointed chief growth officer to oversee global sales and marketing. The launch will be made possible by a combination partnership with restaurants and meal-kit companies in the United States.Meati and AtLast are two other startups that make meat alternatives from mushrooms. Fox stated that there is a major difference between the two startups, Meati and AtLast. They ferment mycelium (or the root structure of fungi) instead of using mushrooms which are the fruiting bodies of fungi.The new funding for Fables will be used to expand its production capacity and research and development in Australia and other parts of the world. Fox stated that Fables will develop mushrooms-based alternatives to pork, chicken and lamb.
