The Raging Pig Co Attracts Investment to Expand Vegan Pork Products & Launch Mycelium Meat

German meat analogue maker The Raging Pig Company has closed a seed funding round ahead of its move into mycelium protein.

As it gears up to enter the mycelium market, vegan pork startup The Raging Pig Company has secured an undisclosed sum to accelerate its progress.

The seed funding round included Sprout & About Ventures, Livian, Solvable Syndicate, and several angel investors, and will allow the startup to develop new products and enlarge its footprint.

The Hamburg-based startup will use the fresh capital for “further expanding the distribution and sales channels in Germany” across foodservice and retail, positioning itself as the country’s leading plant-based sausage dealer, said CEO Arne Ewerbeck, who co-founded the business with Constantin Klass in 2022.

“On the product side, we are looking forward to releasing the first mycelium products into the market soon,” Ewerbeck added.

Raging Pig to roll out mycelium products early next year

Raging Pig’s current lineup includes its flagship bratwurst and bacon, as well as a smoked sausage, mini-bratwurst, and currywurst. The products are made primarily from pea protein, bamboo fibre, and oyster mushrooms.

The bacon leverages a proprietary fat encapsulation tech and industry sidestreams to deliver its signature look and crunchy mouthfeel, while also reducing emissions by 90% compared to conventional bacon.

And in March, it announced plans to incorporate mycelium into its product range, teaming up with fellow German startup Kynda to roll out mycelium-based analogues. The latter utilises sidestreams like soy, oat and rice okara to produce a zero-waste mycelium ingredient for plant-based and hybrid proteins.

“Our focus has always been on taste and sustainability. With Kynda’s nutritious and allergen-free ingredients, we’re able to significantly lower our production costs and are finally able to compete with heavily subsidised meat producers,” Ewerbeck said at the time.

Raging Pig has been looking to replace the “highly processed” pea protein texturates obtained from high-moisture extrusion in its products. It showcased a burger with the myceliym at the Internorga trade fair in March, swapping 17% of the pea protein with the Kynda-Meat.

The mycelium-infused meat analogues are set to be released in early 2025, and are currently undergoing the “final steps of production scale-up and distribution”.

“The first products that we will launch with mycelium will be our plant-based sausage range, starting with our classic: the German bratwurst,” said Ewerback. “There are other products like burger patties in the pipeline and ready to roll out. We will see what makes more sense and how the market reacts as well. Since we are already selling at scale, we can take these steps one at a time and see what works best.”

Pork industry on the decline as meat analogues gain popularity

Germany is the second-largest pork producer in the EU, amounting to the slaughter of 44 million pigs last year, but the industry has been on a declining curve over the last few years, thanks in large part to the outbreak of African swine fever (ASF) in herds in 2022 and consumers shifting dietary habits.

Last year, pig populations reached their lowest since 1990, just as overall meat production dropped by 4%. In the long term, both the number of pigs slaughtered and the amount of pork eaten in Germany dropped by around 20% between 2015 and 2022.

Moreover, the post-ASF landscape has led many countries to ban pork imports from Germany, including China, its largest buyer of pork until 2020. At the same time, meat analogues have become increasingly popular, with production doubling since 2019.

In fact, Germany is the largest market for plant-based food in Europe, with meat consumption dropping by 12% from 2019 to 2023, and 55% of its population identifying as flexitarian. Three in 10 Germans say they want to eat more meat analogues over the next two years, just as the country’s latest nutrition guidelines suggest halving meat intake and eating 75% plant-based.

Meanwhile, the government set aside €38M in its 2024 federal budget to encourage the manufacturing and consumption of alternative proteins, promote a switch to plant-based agriculture, as well as open a Proteins of the Future centre.

To solidify its presence, Raging Pig began offering retail products in northern Germany this summer, with products available in select Edeka and Rewe stores (among others) in Hamburg and surrounding areas.

But its main focus is on the foodservice channel. “We are currently available nationwide in Germany through different foodservice partners,” said Ewerbeck. This includes the canteens at public broadcaster Norddeutscher Rundfunk’s offices in Hamburg, alongside snack bars, festivals, and pubs.

“Next to Germany, we are currently available in Switzerland and will take a closer look at some other European markets in the upcoming years,” he added.