Startup Aims to Make Vegan Nuggets Cheaper Than Chicken to Save Billions of Birds

Seattle, WA-based food technology startup Rebellyous (previously known as Seattle Food Tech) has created innovative production technology that aims to make plant-based chicken nuggets as quickly and affordably as animal-based products from factory farms. According to the company, plant-based meats can be two to five times more expensive than meat produced on a factory farm, which means the people and institutions that would benefit most from having plant-based options—such as cafeterias, hospitals, and military kitchens—can’t afford them. Rebellyous is hoping to close the gap with its groundbreaking, production methods to increase volume and lower the price of its vegan chicken nuggets, patties, and tenders to effectively replace animal-based meat on a large scale. The goal is to offer its vegan products to the food-service sector and its proprietary machinery to other plant-based companies to help scale their production. “Meatless nuggets used to be half as delicious and twice as expensive as chicken,” Christie Lagally, Rebellyous founder and CEO, said. “At Rebellyous, our mission is to flip the script and make plant-based meat that is better than animal meat in every way, from price and convenience to taste and nutrition.” Earlier this year, Rebellyous debuted its flagship crispy nuggets—made from textured wheat, chicken-less flavoring, cornstarch, oil, and corn breading—at Seattle-based hospital Swedish Medical Center. The company plans to launch its products at more food-service facilities nationwide by the end of the year.