Planetarians’ headquarters is a sleek concrete building in a sea of similar buildings arranged in neat rows on a tree-lined street near San Francisco Bay. It’s calm, almost idyllic … and completely belies the cacophony inside the startup’s pilot facility. 

Like his company’s machinery, Planetarians’ co-founder and CEO Aleh Manchuliantsau is in constant motion. He walks across the factory floor, marshaling the staff, the movement and the energy into the thick slabs of yeasty-scented alt-meat rolling off the line.

The company produces plant-based alt-meat with an umami-rich flavor using only two ingredients — both byproducts of industrial food production that would otherwise be headed for a landfill or animal feed. 

What’s more, because the ingredients come from food production, they’re already designated FDA GRAS. It’s a business-minded environmentalist’s dream, really. 

“We have a zero waste process. We say it’s carbon-negative,” Manchuliantsau says. He points to the product’s Life Cycle Analysis, which has Planetarians outperforming both conventional beef and Beyond Meat in water use and resource consumption. “We have a clean label and a low cost.” 

In conversation with Alt-Meat, the eight-time serial founder talks about the road to Planetarians, his un-CEO-like habits and how he knew the product was ready for prime time. 

Alt-Meat: You’ve started several companies — how did that work lead you here?

MANCHULIANTSAU: My early startups were in tech and events, but I founded a couple of food startups on the road to Planetarians. The first was a meal replacement shake. I started the company in 2013 with $100 that I raised from my left pocket. My competition at the time was Soylent, and they raised $20 million. I knew they’d out-spend me even if my product was superior.

Analyzing the cost structure of the product, protein was the most expensive element by far, so I researched cheaper protein options. That’s when I discovered soybean meal, sunflower oil cakes and other protein-rich byproducts. They were 10 times cheaper than protein isolates.

I came to a fork in the road: Should I carry on with meal replacements or transform into an ingredients company? 

Alt-Meat: Why? Undercutting the competition on price would be a big win. 

MANCHULIANTSAU: Once I discovered that I could repurpose byproducts into functional ingredients that would be beneficial for the planet, I thought, this would set a great example for my kids. 

I have three boys. And if you’re a parent you know: You cannot force knowledge on kids. You have to behave as you want them to behave. That’s what drove my decision to switch gears. 

As an ingredient company, we had a couple of false starts, eventually creating a meat alternative that didn’t quite have enough protein to replace meat. 

I knew fermentation could increase the protein content, but fermentation is expensive — there’s a huge capex for fermentation vats, and you have to implement many safety measures. I asked myself: How can we get the benefits of fermentation without the risks? 

We looked at a lot of products and byproducts, and we found that spent brewer’s yeast completed our equation. 

Alt-Meat: So spent brewer’s yeast is the star ingredient? Where does it come from?

MANCHULIANTSAU: Yeast is our main source of flavor and protein. It is a byproduct of the beer brewing process, and it’s considered waste. 

Anheuser Busch is our strategic partner. They provide spent yeast, and they invested in the company so they can harvest the downstream profits. We plan to collect spent yeast at their breweries around the world as we scale up. 

Alt-Meat: Do you get funky flavors from the beer?

MANCHULIANTSAU: Our protein chemist Jin-Shan Shie developed a process to keep the flavors consistent. So we’re able to use spent yeast from lagers or IPAs. Sometimes they send yeast from seasonal beers, and with Jin’s system, we’re able to standardize taste and color.

Alt-Meat: And the second ingredient is sunflower oil cakes?

MANCHULIANTSAU: We’ve actually shifted to spent soybeans, another byproduct of food production. They’re soybeans, but the oil has been pressed out, so it’s mainly protein and fiber. 

It’s also worth noting yeast and soy have different amino acid profiles, so it’s the protein in the product is varied. 

Alt-Meat: You’re currently in a pilot facility, but is the plan to scale up?

MANCHULIANTSAU: We’re ready to move to a larger line, and the equipment for a second line has been ordered. 

Michael Paszti, our COO and chemical engineer, was instrumental in this. We ran into challenges with pumping, heating and chilling during our initial runs, and that resulted in some fireworks. But Micheal figured out the whole process.

One of the things that’s unique about our system is that, though we’re using extrusion, we’re able to make meat that is just over three-quarters of an inch thick. That gives chefs the ability to treat it like a whole cut of meat. 

Alt-Meat: To me, it looks like pork or shredded chicken. What do you compare it to?

MANCHULIANTSAU: I am hesitant to compare it to a specific traditional meat product. Instead, we say it’s umami flavored. It soaks up whatever you add to it, and it has chew and texture that’s like traditional meat.

When you cut into the product, you can see aligned fibers and channels, like muscle. All of those pockets absorb the marinades and flavors that co-founder and chef Max Barnthouse dreams up, so it is juicy once it’s cooked. 

Alt-Meat: What is your rollout strategy?  

MANCHULIANTSAU: Last year, we tested in restaurants and via campus catering and hospitality channels. There were consistent repeat orders, but we were concerned that we were riding on novelty because everyone wants to try something new the first time. 

So we also did a trial with a food truck selling Planetarians ribs, and we saw multiple familiar faces coming back over and over. The food truck operator wanted to continue our partnership after the trial. That’s when we knew that we were ready to go to market. 

Right now, we’re focusing on senior housing and school cafeterias. They both have tight budgets. It’s just not economically feasible to get most plant-based meats into a $2 lunch. But with our upcycled ingredients and unit economics, we actually can do it.  

Alt-Meat: Kids can be tough critics. Are you concerned about acceptance in schools?

MANCHULIANTSAU: We know that kids want plant-based, and we tested Planetarians against Beyond in schools. Our product scored better with the kids. 

Alt-Meat: Perseverance is a through line for your story. What keeps you going? 

MANCHULIANTSAU: As a role model for my boys, I don’t have any other choice. Looking back, maybe I would even say I am grateful for the setbacks. Now my sons see anything is possible. 

Alt-Meat: Is there something different about the way you develop ideas? 

MANCHULIANTSAU: In the USSR, I learned Genrich Altshuller’s TRIZ method. He read tens of thousands of patent abstracts and found patterns in the innovations. From that, he developed a guide to problem solving. 

Once you understand TRIZ, you follow the steps, and you find the best solution. This is how we came up with Planetarians. We’re using byproducts as a source of protein and fiber and flavor. No one else is doing that. 

Alt-Meat: You always seem happy and calm. What’s your secret? 

MANCHULIANTSAU: I work long hours all week, but have a hard stop on Friday. Then, I reboot on Saturdays so I can start with a clean canvas on Sunday. It’s keeps me focused and organized. 

Alt-Meat: What does a Saturday look like? 

MANCHULIANTSAU: Hiking, biking, experiencing new foods, going to the opera. Living in San Francisco allows me to do many different things. The whole city allows me to invent. The Bay Area is different from any of the other places I’ve lived. Living here — that’s how I recharge.