Brief - The Hustle

The ‘Tesla of chicken nuggets’ is using memes to stand out in the race to replace meat

Written by Trung T. Phan | Aug 27, 2020 10:47:57 AM

As the world looks for more sustainable protein sources, funding in the alt-meat space has surged.

Through July of this year alone, alt-meat startups have raised $1B+, more than double last year’s haul.

One fast riser: SIMULATE — the startup behind plant-based NUGGS (AKA the “Tesla of chicken nuggets” 😂), has raised $11m+ from investors including frozen food giant McCain Foods.

It’s creating hype like a streetwear brand

The nutrition tech startup recently did a “drop” of Spicy NUGGS, which sold out 1k boxes in 16 minutes and led to a hilarious Instagram exchange with supermodel Bella Hadid.

Another meme-tastic move includes release notes (like software updates) for each new product improvement (i.e., “increased fiber”).

And its pricing page gives options of 2 lbs. ($34.99), 4 lbs. ($44.99) and 420 lbs. (“you don’t need this” LOL).

Nuggets are only the beginning

Like Hadid (we’re basically spirit animals), The Hustle had some fun with the NUGGS social team: we did a chicken nugget taste test vs. McDonald’s and Wendy’s.

We also caught up with SIMULATE’s 20-year-old founder Ben Pasternak, who told us what’s next for his hot startup: hot dogs (DOGGS) and chicken tenders.