Following Shandi Global’s Vegan Chicken Drumstick, fellow Singapore start-up, KARANA, has launched Asia’s first whole-plant based meat brand offering an array of guilt-free meat alternatives to the local and international vegan community.
Specially curated to suit discerning Asian palates, KARANA’s first series of ‘pork’ products make use of the natural meat-like qualities of a young jackfruit to produce an array of minimally processed, ready-to-eat options such as the Whole-plant Char Siu Bao and Whole-plant Pork & Chive Dumplings.
Providing the mouth-watering qualities and lusciousness of minced pork is the use of jackfruits which are sourced responsibility from small holder farms located in Sri Lanka. An extremely efficient crop with high yields and low water usage, up to 60% of the jackfruits are said to be currently wasted by farmers.
In an attempt to promote sustainability and reduce wastage, KARANA thus developed its technologies based on this fruit, transforming them into shreds using the company’s innovative mechanical techniques to mimic the texture of real pork without the use of harsh chemicals and additives.
As a start to introduce their products to Singapore’s mass market, KARANA is launching their products with six leading restaurants in including the likes of Candlenut, Butcher Boy, Open Farm Community, Morsels, Atout and Grain Traders.
By first introducing their products in Singapore market, KARANA’s co-founder, Blair Crichton, hopes to make use of the country’s high concentration of talented chefs and status as the global leader in food tech innovation to showcase and bring their products to light.
“We wanted to bring to market a plant-based ingredient that can be cooked and presented as meat, taking jackfruit to the next level in restaurants,” Blair added.
Whilst details of their products and collaborations have yet to be announced, I’m definitely stoked to try KARANA’s ‘pork’ products for myself. The Whole-plant Char Siu Bao sure makes for an awesome guilt-free breakfast/snack option that will get me going throughout the entire day!
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