Vital Foods Technologies – a joint venture of Oman Investment Authority (OIA) and US-based alternative proteins specialist MycoTechnology Inc – is expected to break ground on its landmark mushroom-based protein project in the Sultanate of Oman in the third quarter of this year.
MycoTechnology’s CEO, Alan Hahn, said the Omani project will utilize the prodigious quantities of dates grown in the Sultanate of Oman as feedstock in the production of high-quality mushroom-based protein – a vital ingredient in the manufacture of a variety of healthful, nutritious and dietary food products for the wider region.
“Oman imports a huge percentage of its food, and we started talking during the pandemic when they were looking for a solution to food security. The whole project is around doing everything domestically to produce super high-quality food, diversify the economy, and create jobs and opportunities. This facility will not only supply the GCC area but will also export to India,” Hahn stated in an interview published in AGFunderNews, a news portal focused on trends in the global agrifoodtech industry.
Under agreements reached by the Omani and US joint venture partners early last year, a 10-hectare site, dubbed ‘an innovative food oasis in the desert’, has been earmarked for the construction of a state-of-the-art facility with a capacity to process around 16,000 tonnes of Omani dates. Utilising MycoTechnology’s proprietary mushroom fermentation technology, the plant will harness the natural power of mycelia – the invisible root system of mushrooms – to develop a range of alternative protein-based foods that address sugar reduction, sustainable protein, nutrient density, and other nutrition-based factors.
Importantly, the project will add further value to Oman’s date farming industry, which has seen output grow exponentially following the launch of the Million Date Palms programme.
“The exciting thing is that the dates we’re using as a feedstock are not going to be consumed by humans; we’re using dates left to rot or feed animals because they’re not the right colour, shape, or size for the market,” said Hahn.
“We take them and create a syrup to get the sugars [to feed the mycelium], but we also take the pits, pulverize them, and add that back in later in the process. The goal is to eliminate waste at every level.”
Oman Investment Authority (OIA), the integrated sovereign wealth fund of the Sultanate of Oman, is an investor in Colorado-based MycoTechnology, a food ingredient specialist. Through the use of its proprietary technology, the company has since commercialized two product ranges: ClearIQ (bitter blockers and flavour modulators presently marketed in over 100 countries), and FermentIQ (plant proteins). A third product range, a fungi-based whole food ingredient for meat alternatives, is proposed to be launched when the Oman plant is operational in late 2025, according to Hahn.
Significantly, the Oman project will mark the start of a wider rollout of similar ventures in key countries around the world, the CEO noted. “What we’re doing in Oman is just the first facility outside the US, and we’re already in discussions about the second one after that as we work with other countries to address food security,” he added.
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