Beyond Meat gets ‘meatier’

El Segundo, Calif.-based Beyond Meat is releasing a “meatier” version of its popular plant-based product this week.

According to CNBC, the company’s newest Beyond Burger formula includes a mix of proteins — pea, mung beans and rice — so that the vegan burger qualifies as a “complete protein.” The vegan burger will also have a slightly different texture through the use of cocoa butter and coconut oil to create a marbling and texture that more closely mimics real beef. The latest iteration of the patty also includes apple extract that changes the color of the plant-based meat substitute from red to brown when it’s cooked.

The announcement comes shortly after the company’s CEO, Ethan Brown, spilled his belief on the future of plant-based meat products. In an interview with Forbes, Brown explained the importance of continued research on vegan meat products and emphatically endorsed government investments in research universities that offer such opportunities.

“[After getting rejected from Whole Foods] we went back to the lab for four years and worked our asses off, [we] brought in scientists from every angle we could think of--biochemists, protein chemists--to understand meat better than anybody else. … We took a model from clean energy, which was get the best scientists, best engineers, fund them well, get them together, give him a clear goal and go for it,” Brown told Forbes. “ And, I knew that was not being done in the food industry."

To read the CNBC article, click here.