In addition to working with startups, Mabius is also working on its own projects, such as Welldone, the plant-based meat. The global trend for plant-based meat substitutes is obvious – more and more people around the world are becoming flexitarians, giving up eating meat products.
Our team managed to develop a high-tech product in a very short time at our own R&D center in Moscow. Welldone got its first sales in the summer of 2020, having successfully tested the product in Moscow cafes and restaurants. The company has managed to build a wide distribution network, and its products are already available in Kazakhstan and Belarus, as well as in the largest federal chains and online retailers in 18 Russian cities, including Auchan, Lenta, Globus, Azbuka Vkusa, Yandex.Lavka, Perekryostok Vprok, Samokat, Utkonos and others. Welldone is also used by chefs in more than 80 restaurants, including TGI Friday’s, UNDERDOG, Eat&Talk and many others.
At the moment Welldone’s product line consists of burger patties, homemade-like cutlets and minced meat, which are made on the basis of legume protein, vegetable oils and fiber. But the flavor, texture and aroma of Welldone’s plant-based meat is very similar to beef – it’s almost impossible to tell the difference.
The company produces up to 15 tons of products each month, but in the near future it plans to increase its production capacity to 300 tons a month, which will allow it to compete in price with conventional meat. The production of Welldone uses 99% less water and creates 10 times less greenhouse gas emissions than the production of meat products, which is extremely harmful to the environment and is one of the largest sources of greenhouse gases, one of the main causes of biodiversity loss and the leading source of water pollution in both developed and developing countries. It should be noted that the market for meat substitutes in Russia is rapidly gaining momentum – more and more Russians are becoming more conscious of their food choices, giving preference not only to natural and healthy products, but also to products whose brands have an important social focus. According to Barclays Research, 38% of Russians are willing to give up meat products in favor of plant-based counterparts.