According to the Washington Post, Just, the plant-based food company formerly known as Hampton Creek, has a new product they describe as their answer to help curtail West African malnutrition.
Dubbed Power Gari, their new porridge is a cheap, healthy option that purportedly will provide Africans with important vitamins and minerals they lack.
Founded in 2011, Hampton Creek came out of the gates hot, with people like Bill Gates hailing the company — and, more specifically, their vegan mayonnaise product — as “the future of food.”
But since then, the company has been overwhelmed by controversy, with scathing reports on their misleading branding, “shoddy” science, and unsafe work environment.
As the years have gone on, more allegations of contamination and false labeling of their products have plagued the company, ultimately leading everyone on their entire board (sans founder and CEO Josh Tetrick) to resign last year.
Just has been testing the licensed recipe of the fortified cassava porridge in Liberia for the past two years, reportedly gaining approval of local schools, nonprofits, and most importantly, African children.
But, critics remain skeptical of the controversial brand, and claim that Tetrick merely slapped better marketing on an already failed product.
This time around, there’s a much more important outcome riding on the company’s success — so let’s hope the proof is in the porridge.