US startup Mushroom Squared is expanding beyond meat alternatives to focus on functional, minimally processed protein products that target a range of wellness areas.
With ultra-processed foods and meat alternatives losing favour with Americans, Mushroom Squared has become the latest alternative protein company to deepen its focus on whole-food products.
The Georgetown, New York firm is developing a vertically integrated functional food platform to create food formats designed to deliver the nutritional benefits of mushrooms. It’s positioning these as an alternative to traditional supplements.
“Mushrooms offer a unique opportunity because they connect food and nutrition,” said Mushroom Squared founder and CEO Shekhar Patel.
“We are not building another plant-based meat company. Our focus is developing foods that make the nutritional properties of mushrooms part of everyday eating,” he added.
Mushroom Squared eyes non-UPF certification
Much like its name, Mushroom Squared’s initial product portfolio comprises square-shaped patties made from maitake mushrooms and pea protein, targeting different wellness facets.
The Gut Heart Balance and Metabolic Wellness patties contain, among other things, apple cider vinegar, citrus fibre, and fermented tapioca starch, while the Cognitive Harmony SKU combine some of these ingredients with lion’s mane mushrooms.
The products deliver 13-14g of protein and 4-6g of fibre per 90g serving, delivering the two most in-demand nutrients for consumers in the US. Nearly three in five (57%) Americans plan to prioritise protein this year. Most of them are fibre-deficient, too, a dietary gap that online trends like fibermaxxing are looking to fill.
The boom in GLP-1 use has accelerated this demand. According to Innova Market Insights, the share of Americans who have used a GLP-1 medication rose from 10% in 2024 to 18% in 2025, and these consumers are eating 40% more protein and 30% more fibre.
Further, 79% of Americans feel UPFs are a “significant threat” to public health, and 82% believe the fewer artificial or unfamiliar ingredients a food has, the healthier it is. Plus, 69% check labels to avoid highly processed ingredients, and 80% prefer familiar ingredients over artificial additives.
It’s why Mushroom Squared is pursuing the Non-GMO Project’s Non-UPF Verified certification via NSF, which it says will differentiate the brand from “other highly processed competitor brands”.
Georgetown facility scale-up will strengthen supply chain and enable partnerships
The company explains that mushrooms contain naturally occurring compounds like beta-glucans, fibre, antioxidants, and other bioactives, which have led to expanding interest in their use in functional nutrition. It’s developing products that incorporate these properties into clean-label food formats.
Clean-label has evolved from being an industry buzzword to a core product attribute in the CPG sector. In 2025, over one in three food and beverage launches in North America included a clean-label claim, with “no additives/preservatives” the most frequently highlighted attribute, according to Innova Market Insights.
Mushroom Squared’s strategy combines speciality mushroom distribution, manufacturing, product development and functional food innovation, and its operating subsidiary, Mushrooms and More, has nearly 40 years of gourmey distribution experience.
The firm is expanding its value-added foods and ingredients as it scales up mushroom production and processing at its Georgetown facility, which was transformed from a former correctional facility and spans nearly 80,000 sq ft. It’s built to support expanded R&D, processing and manufacturing capabilities, and will provide greater supply chain control and support retail, foodservice and other partnerships.
Mushroom Squared believes its approach reflects broader nutrition trends, with functional ingredients increasingly being incorporated into foods, beverages and other everyday products. It wants to expand the role of mushrooms in this category through “scalable manufacturing and science-based product development”.
“Speciality mushrooms carry real, meaningful health benefits, but today they’re priced and positioned like a niche product,” he said. “Our goal is to make those benefits available to everyday consumers at a price they can actually afford, and we believe the only way to do that at scale is by controlling the supply chain ourselves. This provides a strong foundation for future growth.”
The whole-food focus has proven to work for other meat-free brands. Actual Veggies, for instance, posted $20M in revenue in 2025 and expects to hit $30M this year.
“When you look at some imitation meat products, there are often very few, if any, real vegetables in them, and that is where consumers can start to see more additives and highly processed ingredients,” its co-founder and co-CEO, Jason Rosenbaum, told Green Queen in May.
“Our products are made with real, visible vegetables and clean-label ingredients, not long ingredient decks (or additives) designed to imitate meat,” he added.
