A company that makes plant-based chicken products has set up shop at RMS Foods in Hobbs, N.M.
Rebellyous Foods also uses Mock 2 at RMS. Mock 2 is an automated continuous production system to make plant-based meat faster and less expensively than the current methods, said Rebellyous founder and CEO Christie Lagally.
“We developed it ourselves at Rebellyous Foods. … This is the first time it’s been tried and we’ve partnered with RMS Foods to place that equipment in their facility and they will be using it to make Rebellyous’ products,” Lagally said.
Right now, Mock 2 is just for Rebellyous’ products.
The technology has the capacity to produce 10-25 million pounds of plant-based chicken annually, a news release said.
RMS Foods is operated as an independently owned facility by Sam Cobb, who is the president and CEO of RMS Foods. Cobb also is mayor of Hobbs.
Lagally said RMS has operated that facility as a meat processing and plant-based processing facility for at least the last 25 years.
“My company Rebellyous Foods is based in Seattle, Washington, and we have started to contract manufacture with RMS Foods which (sells) plant-based chicken for institutions and schools and places like that. That’s where we sell them to and RMS makes them for us,” Lagally said.
“But the reason that we chose RMS was because they had room to allow us to deploy new technology, new food processing equipment, that we designed and developed and deployed in the RMS facility.”
RMS makes Boca products for Kraft foods.
The Mock 2 technology has not been tried elsewhere before.
“We’ve partnered with RMS Foods to place that equipment in their facility and they will be using it to make Rebellyous’ products. Right now, the Mock 2 is just for Rebellyous’ products,” Lagally said.
Rebellyous sells nationwide primarily to the USDA national school lunch program. They currently sell to 292 school districts nationwide reaching 4.6 million kids.
Rebellyous serves schools, hospitals and correctional facilities, as well as entertainment facilities.
“The benefit to each of those types of businesses is different,” Lagally said. “For schools, they like to have plant-based meat for a wide variety of reasons. One of them is that kids these days eat less meat and they prefer a plant-based option; the second is that some religions ask for plant-based meats as part of their religious beliefs. They don’t eat meat sometimes during the year. The other reason that school districts prefer plant-based meat is it helps them meet their climate targets to reduce their overall emissions and then also our products tend to be healthier. They have no cholesterol. They have lower saturated fat and sometimes lower sodium and the school districts like the benefits of plant-based products over the processed chicken that the schools normally serve.”
Traditionally, plant-based meat is much more expensive than animal-based meat.
“But the whole goal of Rebellyous Foods is to make plant-based meat the same price as animal-based meat so school districts don’t have to pay more. We’re nearly there.
“Our products are very competitively priced with meat products and that’s why we’ve been able to expand nationwide with so many school districts is because they see it as a win-win. They’re getting what they need in terms of nutrition, climate targets and serving a diverse community, as well as not necessarily having to pay much more, or any more, in some cases,” Lagally said.
Processed chicken products, she said, are where you take chicken and grind it up to make nuggets and tenders and patties.
“Plant-based meat just means that … instead of grinding up chicken, you take texturized soy and flavor it like chicken, usually with some sort of natural flavoring which is what we use. You also mix it up and make it into nuggets, tenders and patties. So you essentially have what looks exactly the same product, but instead of being made out of chicken it’s made out of soy protein so you have a lower saturated fat.
“You actually get a better protein content because soy is very high protein content and you get the health benefits of plant-based over a processed chicken product,” she added.
Essentially, she said, plant-based meat is what’s often called an analog or a replacement for conventional meat products that tend to be less healthy, especially the processed ones.
Lagally added that it’s exciting to be located in New Mexico.
“We’re based in Seattle, Washington, and we’re super excited about getting to know the community of Hobbs, New Mexico. We obviously come from a very different region, and as a result, we’re all learning to understand how to make all of our business work in this region. But it’s been super successful so far and we’re just really excited to be a part of the community now,” Lagally said.
RMS Foods, Inc. specializes in the production of high-quality plant-based meat products. With over 25 years of experience, the company has transitioned from traditional meat production to focus on plant-based alternatives, meeting the diverse dietary needs of consumers.
A news release said RMS Foods prioritizes energy efficiency and environmental responsibility, implementing advanced technologies such as solar energy and LED lighting to reduce its carbon footprint and operational costs.
School districts supplied by Rebellyous Foods
- Austin Independent School District – Austin
- Klein ISD – Klein
- Northside ISD – San Antonio
- Uplift Education – Dallas
- The Healthy Lunch Box – Houston
- Albuquerque Public Schools – NM
