SMAQO launches fungi-meat hybrid Swedish meatballs in Swedish retail debut

Swedish foodtech company SMAQO has launched its first consumer product, introducing a hybrid meatball that blends conventional meat with fungi-based mycoprotein and placing it directly onto supermarket shelves. The product, called Hybrid Köttbullar, has debuted in selected stores within Sweden’s ICA retail network, marking the company’s first retail launch and an early example of a consumer brand in Europe bringing a fungi-and-meat hybrid product to market.

• SMAQO launched Hybrid Köttbullar, a Swedish meatball product combining conventional meat with fungi-based mycoprotein, in selected ICA supermarkets across Sweden on March 10, 2026.

• The clean-label product contained three main ingredients and a spice mix following approximately six months of development focused on taste, texture, and nutritional balance.

• The launch followed SMAQO’s 2025 funding round led by Good Startup and built on founder Ramkumar Nair’s earlier work developing fungi proteins through Nordic fermentation company Mycorena.

The Gothenburg-based startup announced the launch today, March 10, presenting the product as part of a growing 'hybrid protein' category that combines animal protein with alternative ingredients to reduce environmental impact while preserving familiar taste and culinary formats.

“Our vision with SMAQO is to offer consumers a smarter way to enjoy everyday consumer food,” Founder Ramkumar Nair said. “By combining meat with a fungi-based mycoprotein blend, we can create products that are flavorful, nutritious, and more resource-efficient while keeping the ingredient list simple, relatable, and transparent.”

The product consists of just three ingreidents, including meat and a proprietary fungi-derived mycoprotein blend, as well as a carefully balanced spice mix designed to maintain the flavor profile expected from traditional Swedish meatballs. SMAQO said the formulation is built around what it describes as a 'fungi blend', combining multiple mycoprotein strains rather than relying on a single organism. According to the company, blending different fungi allows the flavor, texture, and nutritional profile of the product to be tuned more precisely. The formulation was developed with a clean-label approach in mind, avoiding added sugars, fillers, or other additives often found in processed meat products.

Hybrid protein products have attracted growing interest across the food industry as companies search for ways to reduce the environmental footprint of meat without asking consumers to abandon familiar foods entirely. Rather than replacing meat outright, hybrid products typically combine it with plant-based or microbial ingredients to lower resource use while maintaining taste and texture.

SMAQO’s launch arrives at a moment when regulatory discussions around alternative proteins are intensifying in Europe. Policymakers across the European Union have debated whether plant-based foods should be allowed to use meat-related terminology, creating uncertainty for companies marketing meat alternatives. Because SMAQO’s product contains real meat alongside fungi-based ingredients, the company said the hybrid positioning allows the meatballs to sit naturally within traditional meat categories in supermarkets.

The launch also marks a significant shift in strategy for Nair, who previously founded Swedish fermentation startup Mycorena. That company helped establish some of Europe’s earliest industrial-scale production capacity for fungi-based proteins before its largest shareholders acquired the business and continued operations under the Promyc brand.

While Mycorena focused primarily on supplying mycoprotein ingredients to food manufacturers, SMAQO was created with the goal of bringing fungi-based foods directly to consumers.

“Forget about all these big players,” Nair told Protein Production Technology International when unveiling the new venture in 2025. “Let’s go directly to the consumers – because they’re the ones who ultimately decide the future of any product.”

Nair said that decision was shaped partly by the experience of working with large food companies that were often hesitant to adopt novel ingredients quickly.

“We had huge success in the beginning,” he said. “But these big companies started playing a waiting game – to see how the market was maturing, whether mycoprotein would really take off. And when you're a startup depending on investor money, it’s not easy to ride that wait.”

SMAQO was designed to bypass that delay by launching finished consumer products instead of waiting for established manufacturers to incorporate fungi proteins into their own lines.

The company formally emerged in 2025 with a brand identity built around the concept of flavor-first innovation. The name SMAQO combines the Swedish word smak, meaning taste, with a modern brand style intended to signal a focus on culinary experience rather than purely technological messaging.

“Taste is at the core of everything we do at SMAQO,” Nair said at the time. “We’re not just offering alternatives – we’re creating flavorful real products.”

That philosophy reflects a broader shift within the alternative protein industry, where many companies have begun emphasizing taste, price, and accessibility rather than relying primarily on environmental or ethical arguments.

SMAQO’s fungi-based ingredients are produced using filamentous fungi rather than mushrooms. Similar fermentation organisms have been used in foods such as Quorn for decades, but companies developing next-generation mycoproteins are exploring different strains and fermentation processes to tailor flavor, texture, and nutritional characteristics.

“In the fungi space itself, there are multiple strains, multiple genera that we can use,” Nair said. “They have different profiles, so we can really tune the end product. This isn’t about copying – it’s about discovering new food experiences.”

The hybrid meatballs reached retail following roughly six months of development work that focused on optimizing taste, texture, and nutritional balance. The final formulation uses only three core ingredients and a spice mix, reflecting the company’s aim to meet rising consumer demand for simple ingredient lists.

Clean-label formulations have become increasingly important in the alternative protein sector, where some plant-based meat products have faced criticism for long ingredient lists and heavily processed formulations.

SMAQO has attempted to address those concerns by simplifying the recipe while maintaining the sensory characteristics expected from meat-based dishes.

The company’s retail debut follows a funding round completed in September 2025 that provided capital to accelerate product development and prepare the first consumer launch. The round was led by Singapore-based venture capital firm Good Startup, which invests in alternative protein companies through its Good Protein Fund, alongside investors including ITIL Partners and Nordic impact fund Nuora Capital.

“This investment marked a significant milestone for SMAQO,” Nair said at the time. “Their strategic backing will help us accelerate our market entry and drive meaningful impact on climate and food security.”

Investors said the company stood out for its combination of fermentation technology and a clear consumer-facing strategy.

“We’ve been tracking the mycoprotein category for several years, and SMAQO stood out for its ability to combine technical excellence with commercial focus,” said Gautam Godhwani, co-founder and managing partner at Good Startup.

SMAQO has also adopted what it describes as an asset-light manufacturing model. Instead of building its own large-scale fermentation facilities, the company plans to work with contract manufacturing partners in Sweden and Asia to produce its ingredients and finished products. The approach allows the company to scale more rapidly while limiting capital expenditure.

Looking beyond the initial meatball launch, SMAQO plans to expand its product range with additional hybrid foods in the coming months.

Mycoprotein has long been viewed by researchers as one of the most promising alternative protein sources due to its naturally high protein and fiber content, as well as its relatively low environmental footprint compared with livestock production. Fermentation-based production also requires less land and water than traditional agriculture.

However, translating those advantages into mainstream consumer products has proven difficult for many startups in the sector.

SMAQO’s hybrid approach is intended to make the transition easier for consumers by integrating fungi proteins into foods they already recognize.

“We believe mycoprotein can become a cornerstone of future diets,” Nair said. “But to make that happen, it must be more than just a novel ingredient. It needs to be part of everyday meals, in formats people recognize and enjoy.”

The company has emphasized experiential marketing as a way to introduce consumers to fungi-based foods. Pop-up tastings, chef collaborations, and product sampling events have been used to demonstrate the flavor and texture of the products directly.

“There’s still confusion between mushroom protein and fungi protein,” Nair said. “People don’t realize they’re different. So instead of telling them – we’re showing them.”

With its first hybrid meatballs now on supermarket shelves, SMAQO is testing whether that approach can turn curiosity into a new category of everyday food.

“The winners will be the brands that make fungi feel exciting and craveable – not just sustainable,” Nair said. “It’s not enough to check the climate box. You need to deliver taste and affordability.”