MycoTechnology is Alt Protein’s secret giant. Marketing Director, Jonas Feliciano & Senior Director, Strategy, Lisa Wetstone share MycoTechnology’s approach to growth, raising awareness and communicating with the consumer about the mighty mushroom’s new fermented frontier. It is a new episode of The Plantbased Business Hour.
Below is a short clip and transcript from our conversation.
Elysabeth: As we talk about being the world’s best kept secret, Jonas, that’s maybe not the best thing when you’re trying to sell to customers. I’m wondering, who’s getting it? Who gets the concept and wants the product? Is it meat companies that are looking to have extra filling in hot dogs or something, or is it plant-based options? Who is really your consumer and do they know about you enough to ask for the products?
Jonas Feliciano: Yeah, well on that note, a couple things is that we’re currently the world’s best kept secret and that’s about to flip. There’s just a little preview. It’s coming down the pike and we are just starting to ease toward that, but you’re going to see a lot of activity from us very shortly.
In essence, really, the core two product families- the universal applicability of it is so broad that it’s less about the categories and more, to us, about the innovators. Early on when I got started in this space, I remember having a conversation with someone off the record that had commented that our product is actually a better product than theirs, but it’s not good enough to necessarily move the needle and have them worry, right? And my thought was, “Okay, that actually tells me a lot about who our customer is.” It’s the people who want the best and that aren’t looking to compromise. And in the environment that the plant-based space is in currently, where we’re seeing a lot of contraction, where we’re seeing a lot of furrowed brows, those customers that have already made a commitment to be true innovators in this space and to want to be the best are now knocking on our door.
Elysabeth: And they’re coming to you?
Jonas Feliciano: Currently. And it’s also through hard work, don’t get me wrong. We have a dedicated sales team. One of the exciting partnerships that I’ll talk about since the product should be going live here any day now is the team over at PLNT Burger, the group from Eat The Change. We have been in development with them for two years on a McRib, on a plant-based version that will live up to [the demand]- because especially amongst the core fast food consumer that product is king, right? There is a viral obsession with the McRib that as someone who’s a flexitarian, I’ve eaten my share of McRibs. There’s a thing about it, and I know from a health perspective that’s a challenge, but that experience is not about health, it’s about indulgence and about taste.
What we’re doing with PLNT Burger with this product just coincidentally happens to be the year the McRib is retiring. I don’t know if you’ve seen the news that McDonalds has this huge campaign that they are retiring the McRib. We are happy to come in and take this spot because the product that the team has created with the help of our R&D and our chefs and their chefs brought together is just tremendous.
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