Millow: Creating Sustainable—And Delicious—Vegan Food from Mycelium
What if there were meat alternatives that tasted just as good as the real thing? Same texture, flavor, consistency—would that make more people switch to meat-free options? The Swedish company Millow thinks so. For the past twenty years, they’ve been perfecting their sustainable technology which they claim produces clean-label, minimally processed, nutritious vegan food with superior texture/taste at consumer-friendly prices. The secret ingredient? Mycelium.
Chief Product Officer Dr. Coralie Hellwig showing the Millowburger and Millow “meat”-balls as well the Millow minced “meat”.
Millow’s technology leverages mycelium’s properties to create a texture that remains intact when boiled or baked. A lot of vegan foods can taste a bit off—too vegetable-y, or just a bit strange, especially for consumers who are not themselves vegans and thus are accustomed to the texture of meat. According to the initiative, their products have a neutral taste that can be tailored to any flavor. Millow says their products offer complete nutrition, including protein, amino acids, fatty acids, vitamins, minerals, and fibers, with bioavailable vitamins and minerals.
Millow states that their production process saves energy, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, and water compared with animal-based products like beef, and compared with other vegan offerings like soy-based products and other mycelium-based products such as Quorn. Switching to meatless options is a vital piece of the solution to our growing climate crisis. According to FAO data, 14.5% of all human-caused greenhouse gas emissions are attributable to livestock farming, an industry that emits not only CO2, but also methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O).
The global population is growing, and food demand, especially for meat, is expected to increase by 60% in the next twenty-five years. Additionally, water, a key component in livestock farming, is increasingly scarce. 2500 out of the 3000 liters of fresh water we use daily come from our food consumption. Beef is particularly thirsty; according to the World Economic Forum, beef requires 15.5 m³ per kilogram of beef produced, a wildly unsustainable ratio. According to the initiative, compared to beef, Millow’s process saves 97% of CO2 emissions. Unlike traditional wet fermentation, Millow’s dry fermentation technology produces no waste, requires only 2.3% of the water, one-third of the energy, and one-third of the capital expenditure, reducing CO2 emissions by 90%.
Millow’s patented technology integrates unique hardware (a bioreactor) and AI-driven software, designed for cost-efficient scaling. The bioreactor is fed with a combination of plant-based substrate and mycelium spores, producing a complete food product in less than 24 hours. The output can be shaped like a meatball, burger, steak, minced meat, or non-animal shapes. Minimal processing is required, depending on the final product. Already, Millow has collaborated with major food manufacturers both in the Nordics and internationally. From fungi to burger, Millow is here to start a food revolution.
Learn more about Millow.
Written by Sarah Souli
Photos provided by Millow
