A PLANT-BASED manufacturer has struck a major partnership with Britain’s biggest food wholesaler – just months after its first burgers rolled off the production line.

Myco’s “game changing” deal will see industry powerhouse Brakes supply the North Yorkshire company’s Hooba range in a move that will dramatically increase the product’s visibility. Created using vertically farmed oyster mushrooms grown inside Myco’s UK-first production facility, Hooba is sold as burgers, sausages and mince. The pioneering production process creates less food miles and is so sustainable, Hooba’s quarter pounder was dubbed “Britain’s greenest burger’ when it launched this summer.

The partnership will see Brakes offer it to the firm’s 20,000 customers and Myco CEO David Wood said the deal was so significant that it moved the company “ahead of schedule” in terms of its growth.

“This is a game changing partnership for Myco and has huge transformational potential for our business,” said David. “Our Hooba range only launched this summer, but the feedback we’ve had from both customers and the industry has been immense and helped us to secure some key industry contracts. “However, Brakes’ reach is unmatched, and we were determined to work with them. They supply 95 per cent of the food service industry and it will mean that 20,000 caterers and food service operators now have access to Hooba.”

The partnership has also created a market first, with Hooba the only mushroom-based sustainable product that’s grown in the UK to enter the food service and catering supply chains. The growth for the business comes as Myco’s own team expands, with Katie Snarska joining as Technical Manager. Having worked in food technology for the past 15 years, Katie has worked in various technical roles for the likes of Nestle, Vale of Mowbray and Ripon Select Foods. And almost as year since Myco moved into their Leeming Bar base, the company hope that the Brakes partnership is just the first step on the journey towards more growth – and more breakthroughs.

“Our initial goal was to create a sustainable food production unit to create a delicious plant-based product - that target was met, and now we are excitedly looking to the future,” added David. “This is the first step in an ambitious onboarding plan that will see further investments across the board during the next 12 months. And we are continuing to push to work with the meat industry, not against it. One of Hooba’s biggest benefits is how well it works as a hybrid mince and our goal is for Hooba to be a product that will help people eat less which is better for the planet.“

Myco will also be exhibiting at stand E42 at the Plant Based World Expo in London November 13/14.

For more information on the company, visit their website here.

Source: Myco