The firm moved into its new 20,000 square foot facility in Leeming Bar, North Yorkshire, in November 2023 and is now keen to ramp up production of plant-based protein, which it will manufacture using oyster mushrooms vertically farmed at the site.
MYCO announced last month (December 2023) that it had appointed former VBites chief executive David Wood, who will oversee its ambitious three-year growth plan. The firm currently employs six members of staff but hopes to grow that number to 75 in the near future.
“This is a great move for MYCO, and one we all believe will help the business unlock its extraordinary potential,” said John Shepherd, co-founder and chairman of MYCO.
“This new site is a food industry first, and the concept of combining both the growing of the raw materials and the manufacturing of the finished product under one roof will pave the way for more sustainable food manufacturing practices in the future.”
Wood, who spent almost two years with VBites prior to joining MYCO, said that the new plant would help future proof the business.
“MYCO’s goal isn’t to turn the world into vegans but is to encourage meat-eaters to eat more sustainable plant-based products,” added Wood.
“We believe we can achieve this by having products that taste fantastic and are made with kitchen cupboard ingredients. The business believes that creating mouthwatering alternatives that resemble ‘proper’ food will make swapping from meat to plant-based substitutes far easier.”
Wood is particularly excited about the possibilities of vertical farming, stating that MYCO has a vision in place that hopes to allow consumers to “choose genuinely sustainable, vertically farmed” plant-based alternatives.
“We hope our unique, sustainable approach can be mirrored by other food producers as ultimately, our biggest priority is to help the planet survive – we just hope we can play our part,” he concluded.
In other news, it was announced that the Heather Mills-owned plant-based business VBites went into administration in December.
