Better Meat Co Drops ‘Meat’ to Chase Bigger Mycoprotein Market

A name change rarely happens without a strategy shift behind it. The Better Meat Co, the US startup behind Rhiza mycelium ingredients, is now doing business as BMC Ingredients (the legal entity remains The Better Meat Co). The move signals a deliberate pivot away from the crowded alt-meat lane toward a broader ingredient-supply play.

TLDR

• The Better Meat Co now operates as BMC Ingredients.
• Rhiza mycelium ingredients are positioned well beyond meat alternatives.
• Rhiza will ship in two formats: Rhiza Tex (granules) and Rhiza Pro (powder).
• A dedicated production facility is set for commissioning in the second quarter of 2027.
• The rebrand targets a wider business-to-business ingredient customer base.

Rhiza Mycelium Ingredients Outgrow Their Original Positioning

The Sacramento-based startup built its reputation on Rhiza, a whole-food mycelium with a clean ingredient profile. But the “Better Meat” name quietly capped its perceived market; operators outside the alt-meat category had little reason to look twice. BMC Ingredients removes that ceiling.

“Our mission remains the same: to help food companies reduce cost while making more nutritious, sustainable, delicious foods,” said Paul Shapiro, chief executive officer and co-founder. “The BMC Ingredients name better reflects the breadth of what Rhiza mycelium can do. As food companies look for scalable, all-natural alternatives to increasingly expensive protein isolates, we’re excited to offer a whole food mycelium ingredient that delivers nutrition, functionality and versatility across categories.”

Two Formats, One Broader Bet

Rhiza will come in two primary formats, per Food Business News: Rhiza Tex, mycelium granules built for applications where texture does the heavy lifting; and Rhiza Pro, a mycelium powder made for solubility, emulsification and gelation. The company said it will commission its production facility in the second quarter of 2027 to support commercialization for food manufacturers.

Mycelium as a category has long outpaced its branding. Quorn built a category around mycoprotein decades ago; newer entrants like Meati and Nature’s Fynd have each staked out distinct positioning. BMC Ingredients is betting that the ingredient-supply tier, not the finished-product tier, is where durable margin lives. That aligns with what food manufacturers increasingly want: functional, clean-label protein inputs that carry minimal processing baggage; high in fiber, complete in amino acid profile, and produced via fermentation with a comparatively low land footprint.

For suppliers and co-manufacturers, the rebrand is a cleaner signal. BMC Ingredients reads as a business-to-business ingredient company; The Better Meat Co read as a brand with a product agenda. That distinction matters when the buyer is a research and development kitchen at a large food company.

Sources: Food Business News; Green Queen.