CHICAGO — Nature’s Fynd, a Chicago-based food company formulating meat and dairy alternatives with Fy, a fungi protein, partnered with Chicago chef Stephanie Izard to host a Climate Optimist Brunch July 19. The event took place at Izard’s Peruvian restaurant Cabra, where she features Nature’s Fynd products on the menu, including vegan breakfast patties, cream cheese and yogurt.  

Izard said she serves a lot of meat at her restaurants in Chicago and Los Angeles. She likes working with Nature’s Fynd’s products because, as she put it, “This stuff just tastes good. It does not need to be for a vegan.”

It’s also good for the planet. Grown by fermentation, Fy protein uses a fraction of resources compared to traditional agriculture. The fact helped the company land the No. 1 spot on Forward Fooding’s FoodTech 500 List this year. The annual award reviews a company’s business size score, digital footprint score using algorithms and a sustainability score using a self-assessed questionnaire developed by sustainability experts from academia. In 2023, Nature’s Fynd ranked No. 6 on the list.

From a nutritional perspective, Fy includes all 20 amino acids, is a good source of fiber and is low in fat.

The company worked with Izard to showcase the versatility of Fy and its retail products. Izard used the Fy ingredient to make an aioli served on loaded tots, one of her specialty sides. It was also a spread on spicy breakfast sliders featuring the vegan patties. A Fy-based emulsion blended with herbs and citrus dressed a quinoa beet salad.

Izard used the cream cheese products in seasoned chip dips and atop sweet and savory vegan crepes. She blended Nature’s Fynd vanilla yogurt with avocado and served it in a layered parfait with berries, tomatoes and sweet and savory granola.

The brunch ended with a hazelnut crunch Fy-based frozen dessert created by Mark Kavanagh, chief product officer, and his product development team. He joined Nature’s Fynd in June to explore the possibilities of using Fy in food and beverage product development. Kavanagh came from GOOD PLANeT Foods, where he served as vice president of research and development and was responsible for developing the first-ever olive oil-based vegan cheese.

Kavanagh’s product development experience with conventional meat and dairy at other food companies is considered critical for advancing Fy into other product formats for retail and foodservice. He also said Fy may someday be sold as an ingredient for home cooks and chefs.

The Fy protein is produced by the acidophilic fungus Fusarium flavolapis. It was isolated by Mark Kozubal, chief scientific officer of Nature’s Fynd, and co-founder of the company, with Thomas Jonas, chief executive officer. The two originally partnered to use the fungi to develop an efficient biofuel but later pivoted to food.

The company has financial support, including $33 million raised in a Series A funding round in February 2019, followed by $80 million from a Series B round in March 2020. The latter enabled the company to move into a 35,000-square-foot manufacturing plant in Chicago.