A new startup is looking to disrupt the plant-based meat market.

Meati, founded in 2019, creates alternative meat made from mushroom root, a superfood protein similar to the root structure of mushrooms.

"We think we're the third and final wave of alternative proteins," said Tyler Huggins, Meati co-founder and CEO. The executive, who earned his doctorate in environmental engineering in 2016, emphasized that the taste and experience of Meati is "unmatched," adding that he would describe the brand as neither "plant-based" nor "lab grown."

"We're whole-food protein," he stated. "That's the key — producing foods with a simple ingredient list that's highly nutritious."

The brand's whole-cut "chicken" cutlets, sold through both retail and direct-to-consumer channels, contain 17 grams of protein per serving (2 cutlets), as well as other key vitamins found in traditional animal-based items — like Vitamin B, Zinc, and Iron.

The company will drop a limited number of its brand new "steak" protein through its website beginning Monday. Its last product drop (April) sold out in just 20 minutes.

In order to create the alternative meat, the company described the process "like a brewery on the front-end" and "cheese processing" on the back-end. The entire process takes four days from start to finish, and creates a comparable level of meat to what a full cow would produce.

"It's not high tech — it's nature," Huggins said, emphasizing that each product contains only four to six ingredients. To compare, a Beyond Meat (BYND) burger has 18 total ingredients.

"We cultivate the mushroom roots in nutrient-rich water where it grows freely. We then harvest it, gently form the different cuts and flavor, then it's done," he explained, adding "It's alive during the whole process. This is true whole food from nature that's flavored and ready to go."