Haofood

What Haofood does

Haofood is a Shanghai-based food technology startup founded in 2020 that develops plant-based chicken alternatives and Asian-style meatless dumplings using proprietary extrusion technology. Its core platform, branded Innotein™, combines peanut protein with soy, wheat, and sunflower seed proteins to produce meat-like textures and umami flavor tailored to Asian culinary formats, and is offered in four specialized variants — MSF, MDF, MBF, and MCF — each engineered for specific applications such as xiaolongbao, gyoza, baozi, and charsiu bao. Consumer products are sold under two lines, the Dumplings Series and the Chickless Series, distributed through over 200 retail stores across China with a stated ambition to expand across broader Asia.

The company is led by founder and CEO Astrid Prajogo, runs with fewer than ten employees, and has raised approximately $3.8 million in cumulative funding across a 2020 pre-seed from Brinc and Lever VC, a 2021 ProVeg Incubator round, a $3.5M seed round in April 2022 co-led by Monde Nissin, Rich Products Ventures, and Big Idea Ventures, and a non-dilutive Start-up Express program award in 2023. Haofood originates from Hong Kong but operates commercially out of Shanghai, and its revenue model is the sale of finished plant-based food products — frozen dumplings and chickless items — through physical retail channels in China with no disclosed B2B ingredient licensing revenue to date. Strategic financial backers include Monde Nissin, an alt-protein-active strategic investor that owns the Quorn brand, positioning Haofood as a candidate for downstream partnership or acquisition if commercial milestones are met.

Name

Haofood

Legal name

Haofood

Website

https://haofood.co

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Haofood is a Shanghai-based food tech startup that makes plant-based chicken alternatives and Asian meatless dumplings from peanut protein using its proprietary Innotein™ extrusion platform, selling through 200+ retail stores in China and targeting broader Asian expansion.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Plant-Based Meat Alternatives

NAICS

Frozen Food Manufacturing (31141), Fruit and Vegetable Preserving and Specialty Food Manufacturing (3114)

SIC

Miscellaneous Food Preparations & Kindred Products (2090)

akta.pro primary industry

Texturization & Structuring Technologies (Extrusion, Shear-Cell, Spinning, 3D Printing) (AFANAKAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Plant-Based Poultry Alternatives (Analog Chicken/Turkey) (AFANAKAL), Finished Meat-Alternative Prepared Foods (Nuggets, Burgers, Sausages, Ready Meals) (AFANAKAO), Frozen Meat & Poultry Meals & Value-Added Proteins (CRADADAH)

Keywords

• Plant-based meat
• Alternative protein
• Meatless dumplings
• Plant-based chicken
• Extrusion technology

Headquarters

HQ city

Shanghai

HQ country

China

HQ region

Asia

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Operations, Supply Chain, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Plant-based food product sales: Haofood generates revenue by selling plant-based meat products including dumplings, steamed buns, and chicken alternatives through retail stores and potentially direct-to-consumer channels in China and across Asia.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Haofood manufactures plant-based chicken alternatives and Asian-style meatless dumplings using proprietary Innotein™ technology. The company uses peanut protein combined with other plant proteins (soy, wheat, sunflower seed) processed via extrusion to create whole-cut chicken analogues and filled Asian foods such as Xiaolongbao, Gyoza, Baozi, and Charsiu Bao. Innotein™ is also offered as a specialized ingredient platform in four formats for food manufacturer applications.

Product overview

Haofood is a Shanghai-based food technology company specializing in plant-based meat alternatives for Asian cuisine. The company operates two main product lines: the Dumplings Series (meatless xiaolongbao, gyoza, baozi, and charsiu bao) and the Chickless Series (plant-based chicken products). The core technology underlying all products is Innotein, a proprietary plant protein platform that uses ingredients including wheat protein, soy protein concentrate, sunflower seed protein, coconut oil, and mushroom powder. Innotein is offered in four specialized formats—MSF (Multi-Structure Format), MDF (Multi-Dimension Format), MBF (Multi-Bite Format), and MCF (Multi-Culinary Format)—each optimized for specific culinary applications. Products are clean label, available in multiple flavors, and distributed through over 200 stores across China.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Innotein™ Technology Platform
• Meatless Xiaolongbao
• Meatless Gyoza
• Meatless Baozi
• Charsiu Bao
• Innotein MSF
• Innotein MDF
• Innotein MBF
• Innotein MCF

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Beyond Meat: Beyond Meat is the largest Western plant-based meat company, producing burgers, sausages, and chicken alternatives. While it operates globally and is much larger, it directly competes with Haofood in the plant-based chicken category and has begun exploring Asian markets.
• Impossible Foods: Impossible Foods produces plant-based beef and chicken alternatives with proprietary heme technology. It competes directly with Haofood in the plant-based chicken space and has expanded into Asian markets including Hong Kong and Singapore.
• Starfield Food Science & Technology (星期零): Starfield is a leading Chinese plant-based meat startup producing plant-based alternatives for Asian dishes including dumplings, beef, and chicken. It is the most direct domestic competitor to Haofood in the China plant-based Asian foods category.
• Zhenmeat (珍肉): Zhenmeat is a Beijing-based Chinese plant-based meat startup developing plant-based alternatives for Chinese cuisine. It is a direct domestic peer competing with Haofood in the China market for Asian-format meat alternatives.

Broad incumbents

• Nestlé Garden Gourmet: Nestlé's plant-based brand offers a broad portfolio of meat alternatives including burgers, nuggets, and chicken pieces across global markets. As a major incumbent with far greater resources, it represents a broad competitive threat to Haofood's plant-based chicken products.
• Tyson Foods (Raised & Rooted): Tyson Foods launched Raised & Rooted as its plant-based and blended protein line, competing broadly in alternative proteins. As a major incumbent meat producer, Tyson has significant resources to enter Asian markets and compete with Haofood.
• Quorn Foods: Quorn is owned by Monde Nissin (one of Haofood's lead investors) and produces mycoprotein-based meat alternatives globally. Its parent ownership creates both an interesting investor relationship and a potential competitive overlap in Asian alt-protein markets.

Emerging players

• v2food: v2food is an Australian plant-based meat company producing burgers, nuggets, and other formats for Asia-Pacific markets. It is an emerging player targeting similar Asian consumer segments as Haofood with comparable product formats.
• Alpha Foods: Alpha Foods is a US-based plant-based food company producing Asian-style products including dumplings, bao, and potstickers. It directly overlaps with Haofood's product formats and Asian cuisine focus, primarily serving Western markets today.

Others

• Perfect Day: Perfect Day is an alternative protein company producing precision-fermented dairy proteins. While not a direct competitor, it operates in the broader alt-protein ecosystem and is backed by similar alt-protein-focused investors like Big Idea Ventures, representing an adjacent peer in the plant-based startup landscape.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks1 record

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/haofood
• Instagraminstagram.com/haofood.co

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds4 records

Investors6 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Haofood