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Meati Foods, once the poster child for mycelium steaks, collapsed after betting the farm on $300M submerged fermentation plants.
Now an Israeli startup called Chunk Foods thinks it has the antidote: go lean, go protein, and let chefs do the talking.
Founded in 2020 by CEO Amos Golan, Chunk Foods makes whole-cut steaks, slabs, and pulled “meat” using solid-state fermentation of soy flour. No giant bioreactors. No rivers of wastewater. Just soy flour, food-grade microbes, and what Golan calls “micro-texture control.” The bet is paying off — and the company expects to be profitable by late 2027.
From Israeli lab to 3,000+ U.S. locations
Chunk quietly entered U.S. foodservice in 2023 and retail in 2024. Today its products are in more than 3,000 locations. The last few months brought major retail wins: Whole Foods Market, Sprouts Farmers Market, and H-E-B have all added Chunk SKUs.
That momentum is showing up in the numbers. Golan told newsmen that revenue jumped 140% in 2025, and he expects another 100% increase in 2026. Foodservice is driving much of that “explosive growth,” with distribution through Sysco, US Foods, Chefs’ Warehouse, EFG, and regional players covering nearly 100 distribution centers.
The company still makes everything in its Israeli facility and ships frozen product to the U.S. Freight and tariffs are painful, Golan admits. But even with those costs, Chunk claims its products are already profitable on a unit basis. Company-wide profitability is targeted for “the end of the second half of 2027.”
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Long-term, Golan wants a U.S. production partner. The Israeli plant would then serve the Middle East and act as a launchpad for other regions. Mexico is already expanding after Sigma Alimentos, a major meat and dairy company, invested in Chunk in 2024.
Why “protein” beats “plant-based” in 2026
U.S. alt-meat sales have been flat. Golan doesn’t sugarcoat it. But he argues the problem isn’t protein — it’s positioning.
A 4oz Chunk steak delivers 25g protein, 3g fiber, 4.5g fat, and 160 calories. It’s air-fryer, pan, grill, and microwave friendly. That profile hits the GLP-1 crowd hard, along with athletes and flexitarians chasing high-protein, low-calorie meals.
“The plant-based meat category is stagnant [in U.S. retail], but there’s a huge shift towards protein in general,” Golan says. “If you have the right product with the right presentation, the right format, and the right story, you can succeed.”
Chefs agree. Golan says operators aren’t asking for a “vegan steak.” They want center-of-plate solutions that work for corporate cafeterias, hotels, hospitals, and universities — and that satisfy multiple diets without a menu overhaul.
Price has always been alt-meat’s Achilles heel. Chunk still retails for about $20/lb, with a range of $16–$24/lb. That puts it in steak territory. But Golan argues the math has shifted.
Five years ago, basic ground beef was ∼$4/lb. Today it’s over $6/lb. And unlike animal steak, Chunk doesn’t shrink in the pan. “It doesn’t lose weight while it’s being cooked,” Golan notes, which changes yield and cost-per-serving calculations.
As volume grows, fixed costs get spread thinner. “The value perception becomes a lot closer to that of other protein sources,” he says.
