Planetarians

Planetarians is a San Francisco-based company producing plant-based protein from upcycled ingredients. As of October 2024, the company's signature product was a whole-cut vegan meat made from two primary ingredients: spent yeast from commercial fermentation facilities and native plant proteins like soy flakes left over from vegetable oil extraction. This approach allows Planetarians to create protein with a meaty flavor and texture while maintaining a clean health profile with near-zero fat content. The company claims its vegan meat has a carbon footprint 50x lower than animal meat and 9x lower than other plant-based meats.

Planetarians operates a pilot facility in California, where it developed and tested its products. The company's target market includes schools, senior housing, and other institutional food services seeking nutritious, clean, and affordable alternative proteins. The production facilities are compact at ~3,000 sq ft, which allows for co-location with breweries or food processors interested in on-demand vegan meat production.

Key customers and partnerships

Planetarians partnered with Barilla in March 2019 to produce chips from upcycled ingredients and test the production of dough-based products such as pasta bread, biscuits, tortillas, and crackers. The company also partnered with Amadori in March 2019 to develop flexitarian meatballs with Amadori’s defatted sunflower flour.

Planetarians formed a partnership with the beer brewer AB InBev in February 2023. The collaboration allowed Planetarians to source spent brewer's yeast from AB InBev, supporting sustainability efforts by finding new uses for its byproducts. The two companies also worked together to place Planetarians' production lines across AB InBev's global network of breweries.