‘Rivalling Tofu’? Plant-Based Innovator Juicy Marbles Rolls Out Whole-Cut Pork with Nutri-Score A

Slovenian whole-cut meat analogue maker Juicy Marbles has released Pork-ish, the second product in its Meaty Meat lineup, its cheapest offering ever.

Building on its new Meaty Meat range, Juicy Marbles has released a whole-cut pork analogue that boasts a Nutri-Score A rating and high protein and fibre content.

Available on the company’s website, it’s said to be the “first whole cut of pork in the plant-based category”, and is a follow-up to Lamb-ish, which was launched last month as the first offering in the Meaty Meat lineup. They are precursors to the brand’s retail launch in the US.

Both products are 26% cheaper than Juicy Marbles’s most accessible cut of plant-based meat yet, priced at $10 per 180g pack. While the whole-cut aspect would speak to consumers looking for better-tasting meat alternatives, it’s also keying into demand for more nutritious products, with 36g of protein per serving.

‘Deliberately ambiguous’ product to take on tofu

Founded in 2019 by Luka Sinček, Maj Hrovat, Tilen Travnik and Vladimir Mićković, Juicy Marbles began with whole-cut beef steaks made using patent-pending ‘reverse grinder’ tech that mimics the muscle texture and marbling of conventional steak.

It layers plant protein fibres on top of each other to replicate animal tissue, helped by deposits of hardened sunflower oil. The effort aims to solve two of plant-based meat’s biggest pain points: taste and texture. A recent survey saw meat-eaters describe vegan alternatives as juicy 62% less often than conventional meat, while only 30% like the average meat-free product.

Notably, that research did not include whole cuts like the ones offered by Juicy Marbles. With the Meaty Meat range, it is hoping to build on the hype created by its initial products (such as a whole-cut lion, a thick-cut filet, and bone-in ribs).

The range is positioned as a “new kind of kitchen staple” to rival tofu as a go-to option for home cooks. The company suggests that, like tofu, the products have a “deliberately ambiguous shape”. The Meaty Meat lineup can be sliced, chunked, shredded or cooked whole to add juiciness and up to 2.5 times more protein than tofu to any dish.

“Mimicking real cuts too closely can limit their perceived versatility in the kitchen. That’s why we went deliberately ambiguous with Meaty Meat’s shape. We wanted to give our customers more freedom while shifting the perception of plant-based whole cuts in general,” said Sinček.

“By focusing only on what people love most about Marbles: meaty texture and flavour, and nothing else – we hope we can give people permission to experiment with whole cuts in all kinds of recipes.”

Juicy Marbles looks for a cleaner label

The new range is also reflective of Juicy Marbles’s commitment to shifting its portfolio to a cleaner-label recipe, called Marble 3.0.

Pork-ish has a base of water and soy protein, natural flavours, and sunflower oil, with small amounts of pea protein isolate, red beet juice, yeast extract, salt, apple extract, and vitamins and minerals. It has a complete amino acid profile, 11g of fibre (nearly 40% of the daily recommended value) per slab, and is fortified with iron, zinc, selenium, and B vitamins.

“We’ve always been frustrated by how light plant-based ‘alternatives’ can be on essential nutrients, like protein, iron, and B12. Beyond taste and texture, people want nutritionally sensible food that helps them reach their daily nutrition goals and that they can cook for their families with confidence,” said Maj Hrovat, who is the R&D chief.

“If we want plant-based meats to be a viable alternative, they have to get close to matching the nutritional profile of meat – with a sensible ingredients list. Marble 3.0 is our cleanest, most nutritious recipe yet, and will be our standard going forward.”

According to the company, the Lamb-ish product was sold out in 24 hours in the US, and the newest innovation is “quickly flying off the shelves”. It now plans a retail release in the EU and the UK too, alongside a supermarket rollout stateside.

Juicy Marbles is one of several companies working on whole-cut meat analogues, which experts say offer a more attractive gateway into plant-based eating for omnivores. These firms include Chunk Foods, Prime Roots, Redefine Meat, Project Eaden, Meati Foods, and Planted.