Meatless

What Meatless does

Meatless B.V. is a Netherlands-based B2B producer of textured plant-based ingredients used by food manufacturers to build vegetarian, vegan, and hybrid meat and fish products. Founded in 2005 in Goes (where it still operates its headquarters and sole production facility), the company was built by founder Jos Hugense after divesting a meat-processing business to focus on plant-based texturization. The company employs 11-50 people and operates as a brand within BENEO, a Südzucker Group functional-ingredients business, following BENEO's May 2022 acquisition.

Meatless's core technology is a hydrocolloid-based texturization process that converts grains and pulses (rice, fava bean, wheat, pea, quinoa, and mycoprotein) into frozen and dehydrated flakes with controlled bite, mouthfeel, water-holding capacity, and heat stability. The company was first to texturize fava beans (2017) and first to commercialize textured quinoa. Its product portfolio spans textured rice flakes, fava bean flakes, wheat flakes, a co-developed Meatless/Loryma textured wheat flake, and higher-protein blends such as the TTHP (Textured Tjoena High Protein, 18.6% protein) and the rice-mycoprotein TRMF P7 hybrid. Production capacity at the Goes site is approximately 6,000 tons per year, with a stated plan to scale beyond 15,000 tons, supported by one of the largest food-grade dryers in southern Holland and an in-house R&D center opened in January 2022.

Meatless sells ingredients in bulk (8-15kg bags) to food manufacturers and processors across more than a dozen countries. Its go-to-market is enterprise field sales combined with technical R&D partnership: dedicated technical sales managers and senior R&D staff work with customer product-development teams from concept through market introduction, with sample demonstrations and on-site customer testing at the Goes R&D center. The company holds FSSC 22000, Kosher, and Halal certifications and supports hybrid, blended, and fully plant-based applications across burgers, sausages, minced meat, lunch meat, emulsions, fat-replacement systems, and fish analogs. Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed.

Name

Meatless

Legal name

Meatless B.V.

Website

https://meatless.nl

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Acquired

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Meatless B.V. is a Netherlands-based B2B producer of textured plant-based ingredients (rice, fava bean, wheat, quinoa, mycoprotein flakes) sold to food manufacturers globally for vegetarian, vegan, and hybrid meat and fish applications. It operates as a brand within BENEO, part of Südzucker Group.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Plant-Based Food Ingredients

NAICS

Food Manufacturing (311)

SIC

Food And Kindred Products (2000)

akta.pro primary industry

Plant-Based Protein Ingredient Producers (Isolates, Concentrates, Texturates) (AFANAKAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Texturization & Structuring Technologies (Extrusion, Shear-Cell, Spinning, 3D Printing) (AFANAKAI), Plant-Based Meat & Seafood Analogues Manufacturing (AFAKAGAA)

Keywords

• Textured plant-based ingredients
• Plant-based protein flakes
• Meat analog ingredients
• Hybrid meat solutions
• Fava bean texturization

Headquarters

HQ city

Goes

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. B2B ingredient sales: Meatless generates revenue by selling textured plant-based ingredients (frozen and dehydrated flakes) to food manufacturers, processors, and brands in the vegetarian, vegan, meat, and fish processing industries. Products are sold in bulk quantities (8-15kg bags) to industrial customers who incorporate them into consumer food products.

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Meatless manufactures and sells textured plant-based ingredients — frozen and dehydrated flakes made from rice, fava beans, wheat, peas, quinoa, and mycoprotein — to food manufacturers and processors for use in vegetarian, vegan, hybrid, and plant-based meat and fish applications. The company uses proprietary hydrocolloid-based texturization technology to deliver ingredients with authentic texture, mouthfeel, water holding capacity, and heat stability, sold in industrial bulk packaging with full technical and R&D support.

Product overview

Meatless is a B2B developer and producer of textured plant-based ingredients for the vegetarian, vegan, and meat/fish processing industries. The company offers a portfolio of frozen and dehydrated textured flakes made from rice, fava beans, wheat, quinoa, peas, and mycoprotein. The product line includes Textured Rice Flake (TRF), Dehydrated Rice Flake (DRF), Textured Fava Beans Flake (TFF), Dehydrated Fava Beans Flake (DFF), Textured Wheat Flake, Meatless/Loryma textured flake wheat (TMLF), and Textured Tjoena High Protein (TTHP). Products are available in coarse and fine sizes, with various protein content levels (ranging from 1.9% to 18.6%), and storage requirements (frozen at -18°C or dry at 2-30°C). The ingredients are designed for hybrid, blended, or fully plant-based meat and fish applications, providing various textures including soft bite, firm bite, and stringy mouthfeel. Since 2005, Meatless has been providing the food industry with unique texturized plant-based ingredients, enabling manufacturers to create vegetarian, vegan, and hybrid products with specific textures and nutritional profiles.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Textured Rice Flake Coarse (TRF) Frozen textured rice flake (2-20mm, 2% protein, stable at -20 to 75°C) with clear white color and unique soft bite for vegan or hybrid fish applications, emulsions, and fat replacement in meat applications.
• Textured Rice Flake Fine (TRF) Frozen textured rice flake (≤1cm, 2% protein, stable at -20 to 75°C) with clear white color for vegan or hybrid fish applications, emulsions, and fat replacement in meat applications.
• Textured Rice and Mycoprotein Flake (TRMF P7) Hybrid textured flake combining rice and mycoprotein (off-white, 2-20mm, 6.7% protein, stable at -18°C) for plant-based fish and chicken applications with fatty mouthfeel and neutral color.
• Dehydrated Rice Flake Coarse (DRF) Dehydrated rice flake (2-20mm, 8% protein, stable at 2-30°C in closed polybag, declarable as rice flour) with soft bite and neutral taste for hybrid meat/fish products, plant-based fish, emulsions, and fat replacement.
• Dehydrated Rice Flake Fine (DRF) Dehydrated rice flake (≤10mm, 8% protein, stable at 2-30°C) with soft bite and neutral taste for hybrid products, plant-based fish, emulsions, and fat replacement in meat products.
• Textured Fava Beans Flake Coarse (TFF) Textured faba bean flake (2-20mm, 5.9% protein, stable at -18°C, declarable as faba bean flour) with firm juicy bite and neutral taste for hybrid and plant-based meat products like burgers, sausages, lunch meat, and minced meat.
• Textured Fava Beans Flake Fine (TFF) Textured faba bean flake (≤1cm, 5.09% protein, stable at -20 to 75°C, hypoallergenic) with lightly moist texture for vegan or hybrid burgers, sausages, lunchmeat, and minced meat.
• Textured Faba Flake | Protein content 13% (TFF P13) High-protein European-sourced textured faba flake (2-20mm, 13% protein, stable at -18°C) with firm bite for hybrid/blended meat and vegan products with high plant protein content.
• Dehydrated Fava Beans Flake Coarse (DFF) Dehydrated faba flake (2-20mm, 14.8% protein, stable at 2-30°C in closed polybag) with firm juicy bite for hybrid and plant-based meat products.
• Dehydrated Fava Beans Flake Fine (DFF) Dehydrated faba flake (≤10mm, 14.8% protein, stable at 2-30°C in closed polybag) with firm juicy bite for hybrid and plant-based meat products.
• Textured Wheat Flake Fine Textured wheat flake (≤10mm, 1.9% protein, stable at -18°C, declarable as wheat flour) with firm stringy bite for hybrid fish products, plant-based nuggets, emulsions, and fat replacement.
• Textured Wheat Flake Brown Fine Textured wheat flake (≤10mm, 1.9% protein, brown color, declarable as wheat flour) with firm stringy bite for plant-based burgers and snacks.
• Meatless/Loryma Textured Flake Wheat (TMLF) Co-developed textured wheat flake (2-20mm, 9.4% protein, declarable as wheat or wheat flour) with stringy texture, designed for water absorption and flakiness with fiber inside in hybrid and plant-based applications.
• Textured Tjoena High Protein (TTHP) High-protein textured flake (2-20mm, 18.6% protein, beige color, stable at -18°C) combining pea, rice, faba bean, and quinoa proteins for hybrid and plant-based minced meat applications, including plant-based tuna.

Quantifiable outcome

• 23% growth in 2020, doubled sales in Q1 and Q2 of 2021
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and minor.

• BENEOflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 May 2022In May 2022, BENEO, a leading manufacturer of functional ingredients, acquired Meatless. Meatless operates as a brand of BENEO while maintaining its technology and product portfolio. Niels E. Hower, Member of the Executive Board of Directors within BENEO GmbH, is responsible for the plant-based proteins portfolio including Meatless. The partnership combines BENEO's raw material expertise and ingredient knowledge with Meatless's technology and products, offering customers a versatile plant-based toolbox.
• OPZUIDminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership project involving several entrepreneurs to develop plant-based seafood alternatives. The OP ZUID-project aims to create fish substitutes that match the intrinsic quality (taste, smell and mouthfeel) of real fish products, addressing the challenge of preserving plant-based texture similar to fish.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Roquette: Roquette is a global leader in plant-based ingredients, including pea protein isolates and starches used as inputs to meat and dairy alternatives. It is a direct B2B peer to Meatless in the textured plant protein ingredient space, serving the same food manufacturer customers.
• Cosucra Groupe Warcoing: Cosucra produces pea protein isolates, chicory inulin, and other plant-based ingredients used in meat alternatives and dairy alternatives. It is a direct B2B peer to Meatless in supplying protein and functional ingredients to alt-protein manufacturers.
• Emsland Group: Emsland Group manufactures potato, pea, and plant-based protein ingredients for the food industry, including texturized products used in meat alternatives. It is a direct peer to Meatless as a European-based B2B supplier of plant protein ingredients.
• Loryma: Loryma produces wheat-based functional ingredients including texturized wheat proteins used in plant-based meat applications. It is a direct peer and an existing collaboration partner of Meatless (co-developed TMLF textured wheat flake product).

Broad incumbents

• Cargill: Cargill supplies a broad portfolio of plant proteins, texturized ingredients, and food ingredient solutions globally. It is a broad incumbent peer offering overlapping textured vegetable protein capabilities, though it operates across a much wider ingredient portfolio than Meatless.
• ADM (Archer Daniels Midland): ADM is a major global supplier of plant-based proteins (including soy, pea, and wheat proteins) and food ingredients used in meat alternatives and hybrid products. It is a broad incumbent peer to Meatless in the alternative protein ingredient category.
• Ingredion: Ingredion supplies starches, plant proteins, and clean-label texturizing systems used in plant-based meat and dairy alternatives. It is a broad incumbent peer with overlapping capabilities in texturization and clean-label ingredient solutions.
• BENEO: BENEO is Meatless's parent company and a leading supplier of functional ingredients (chicory root fibers, rice derivatives, plant-based proteins). It is the relevant incumbent peer for the integrated BENEO-Meatless platform and the channel through which Meatless's ingredients are increasingly distributed.

Emerging players

• AGT Foods and Ingredients: AGT Foods processes and supplies pulse-based ingredients (lentils, peas, faba beans, chickpeas) used in plant-based protein applications. It is an emerging peer to Meatless in the pulse-derived texturized ingredient category, particularly for fava bean-based inputs.
• Puratos Group: Puratos supplies bakery, patisserie, and plant-based food ingredients including texturizing systems and protein solutions. It is an emerging peer with overlapping capabilities in clean-label texturization for plant-based applications.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/meatless-bv

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

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 Meatless