I've always felt quorn (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quorn) got a raw deal. They made some stupid marketing positions, they allowed the agenda to get ramped up around allergy when its ratio of risk is significantly lower than other foods including soy, and they walked into a battery hen issue needlessly.
But the fundamentals look pretty good. Its a bioreactor, it scales, it can use varying feedstock, and its good nutritive value.
TVP which proceeded it, in my highly subjective opinion was crap in comparison. It reminded me of badly cooked stewing meat, when the connective tissue is left behind and the good bits are now in the stock: you don't want to swallow this.. cellophane meat "thing"..
The quorn and tvp era was focussed on protein shortage and we understood how to make chicken things happen in bulk. It was efficient use of animal product to source binder in egg form deprecating the inefficient grazing behind pork, lamb and beef. Chicken farming is pretty intensive. (I'm skirting the moral aspect here)
It wasn't initially about vegetarianism as a holistic view avoiding animal products, as much as fending off starvation from lack of food. If they had found a way to make beef farming productive enough I think they would would have gone there. The input was surplus product from a flour producer. I don't think they were radical vegetarians.
They did subsequently get on the vegan bandwagon but had lost market momentum, and the whole 'fusarium is not a mushroom' and 'you are allergens' kind of killed it for a while.
But the fundamentals look pretty good. Its a bioreactor, it scales, it can use varying feedstock, and its good nutritive value.
TVP which proceeded it, in my highly subjective opinion was crap in comparison. It reminded me of badly cooked stewing meat, when the connective tissue is left behind and the good bits are now in the stock: you don't want to swallow this.. cellophane meat "thing"..