Over the last 20 years, Jade Gray has gradually cut out meat and replaced it with extra vegetables for the sake of his health. But the former supermarket butcher still loved the taste.
Seeing a gap in the international plant-based meat market, his company Off-Piste Provisions is about to launch vegan jerky, biltong and crackling on to the world stage.
Jade Gray of the vegan meat company Off-Piste Provisions Photo: Off-Piste Provisions
Jade joins Kathryn Ryan to discuss the science behind his snacks
Plant-based jerky by NZ food company Off-Piste Provisions Photo: Off-Piste Provisions
It was a challenge not to eat meat, Jade says, but apart from the health aspect, consuming animal products is not the way forward.
"Whether we like it or not, there is definitely going to be a lot of pressure on protein supply around the world… and we believe this is the best solution currently in front of us."
To develop products with the right meaty flavour and chewy texture - and international sales potential - he paired up with Massey University scientists.
Off-Piste has "nailed" the taste, Jade says - for verification, he directs people to their Google reviews - but 'mouthfeel' is also very important when you're trying to create a product that truly echoes the experience of eating meat.
Mouthfeel - basically the sensations we have in our mouth and tongue while eating or drinking something - partly relates to the force that it takes to chew through something, Jade says.
"Your tongue is an extremely sensitive organ and it sends a lot of unconscious messages to your brain that you're not really aware of."
To formulate vegan proteins in a lab, the most commonly used technique is extrusion - where pressure and heat and force are added to protein molecules to reform them into fibres that imitate meat.
But it's the new technique of producing meat-like fibres by using fungi to ferment grains that Jade's excited about.
In a kind of "circular economy model" the process involves taking waste carbohydrates, such as spent brewers' grain and potato peels and fermenting them with fungi to create a high-value protein that mimics meat.
A kilo of 'fermented' vegan meat requires only 5 percent of the land and water resources that it takes to produce a kilo of beef, he says.
"It's a really exciting space. It uses around 20 percent of the inputs that other plant-based meat products would and it's significantly lower again than traditional meat."