GREEN ISLAND, NY. — Atlast Food Co., a maker of whole-cut plant-based meat alternatives, is now MyForest Foods Co.

The company launched into the alternative meat market in 2020 with MyBacon, a meat-free bacon analogue made with mycelium, the vegetative part of a fungus consisting of branching fibers. The new name references the forest, mycelium’s natural environment, as a reminder of the ingredient’s origin.  

MyForest’s whole-cut approach to plant-based foods is enabled by the proprietary AirMycelium cultivation method. Developed by parent company Evocative, the method offers control over mycelium’s shape and density as it grows, fine-tuning the same environmental factors present in its natural habitat.

“Replicating Mother Earth’s magic, we simulate the forest inside our vertical farms — cool rains, evening fog, morning mist and afternoon breezes create just the right environment for our mycelium to grow,” said Eben Bayer, chief executive officer of MyForest Foods. “The forest, philosophically and physically, is where we hail from, so this felt like a natural move.”

In addition to launching its flagship bacon alternative in late 2020, MyForest raised $40 million in a Series A funding round last spring. It recently announced a partnership with Whitecrest Mushrooms Ltd., which plans to produce nearly 3 million lbs of MyBacon mycelium each year on less than one acre of land.

The company also recently broke ground on 120,000-square-feet of infrastructure between a headquarter facility in Saratoga Springs, NY, and a vertical mycelium farm in the Hudson River Valley region. Both facilities are expected to open this fall.