Singapore's KARANA Launches Jackfruit Meat In The U.S.

The company’s expansion will begin in a varied mix of locations; from the Cantonese cuisine of Empress by Boon, from Michelin-starred chef, Ho Chee Boon, to plant based favorite, Wildseed, and the Nepalese tapas of Base Camp. We featured the founder on our Founder Spotlight!

SAN FRANCISCO, March 22, 2022 – KARANA, a leading Singapore based food tech startup, which in just the last year has expanded in two countries, Singapore and Hong Kong, today announced it has partnered with San Francisco restaurants to launch its shockingly realistic meat made from jackfruit. This is the first time the company has been available on menus — ever — in the United States and marks the start of its entry into a major and exciting market. The company has also established an office in San Mateo.

KARANA has established itself as the “triple threat” in the ever-more-crowded plant based meat space, combining health, taste, and biodiversity — a step up on sustainability. And as the competition grows, its unique characteristics truly make it shine. To date, it has developed a suite of meat products made from whole plants that feature its star ingredient, jackfruit, in a whole new way. With a proprietary process that captures the nutrients and natural meat-like qualities of the whole plant, it has created products that are not only an incredible dining moment for consumers, but also provide a wonderful culinary experience for chefs and home cooks alike. The company has thus far created minced meat, and dumplings that will at first be available for food service to chefs and restaurateurs in the Bay Area, followed by the Greater Los Angeles area.

“We’re extremely excited to be launching with such an amazing group of chefs and restaurants," said KARANA co-founder, Dan Riegler. He continued, "Our mission is to take ingredients like jackfruit that support soil health and farmers, and make them an incredible, diverse textural and flavor experience for use in the kitchen.

KARANA Co-founder Blair Crichton added, “Our original goal was always to have people taste KARANA through chefs first. It's the ultimate way to experience a new ingredient and in line with our goal of making every customer interaction with a KARANA product an incredible culinary experience."

SAN FRANCISCO RESTAURANT PARTNERS:

Empress: Led by founder and executive chef, Ho Chee Boon, Empress will be featuring Karana in its famed dumplings. Chef Ho is a Malaysia native, with over 36 years of experience in the culinary industry, and excited to bring a plant from his home country to diners in his acclaimed establishment.
Wildseed: The plant based darling from Adriano Paganini’s Back of the House Restaurant Group will be featuring Karana as a meaty topping on its ever-popular plant based pizzas.
-Base Camp: The Nepalese staple founded by Suraksha Basnet who came to the US from Nepal in 2013 and has brought the flavors and dishes from her home country to thousands of happy diners in the Bay. The restaurant will feature KARANA in two new dishes on its menu, a jackfruit based version of its iconic pork momos, and in a new vegan curry.

Interested chefs and restaurant partners can contact: info@eatkarana.com for more information and to arrange for samples. Karana meat products are gaining traction not only for their nutritional benefits (featuring just eight simple, clean ingredients), but also due to the unique factors of being vegan, soy free, low in cholesterol, high in fiber, and minimally processed. Additionally, Karana products are naturally free from artificial colors and flavors while also being GMO free. Chefs have raved over the products’ versatility and ability to “pick up” flavors and sauces like real meat as well. And while KARANA has been readily adopted by the Asian market, it is excited to now carry its momentum to an eager American audience.

About KARANA: KARANA Foods is the triple threat of plant based meat. It finds plants that support a more biodiverse, sustainable, and equitable food system and combines them with innovative techniques in order to create meat from whole plants. Its products are not only versatile and delicious, but also place an emphasis on being planet and farmer friendly, in addition to healthier. Based in Singapore, the company was founded in 2018 by Dan Riegler and Blair Crichton and since then, has launched four products in three countries — a massive growth trajectory. Karana's product line includes three different options made from young jackfruit as well as different types of dumplings and dim sum products. The company has raised over $3M to date from Big Idea Ventures, amongst others, and recently launched in San Francisco, its first entry into the US market.

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