Sales of meat alternatives dropped between 2021 and 2023, according to the Good Food Institute. A big problem is price. The closer companies get to mimicking meat, the more obvious the stubbornly high premium becomes. Prime Roots hopes to escape this trap with their alternatives to deli turkey, ham, and salami, since sandwich fillings already command relatively high prices.
Prime Roots products are made of koji, the fungi that make soy sauce delicious. Koji is eerily fast-growing, which means a smaller carbon footprint, if you care about that sort of thing. The deli meats are tasty, though not perfect copies of their animal counterparts. Their flavors are actually a little amped up in a way that is pleasing in a sandwich, though possibly overwhelming in more unadulterated presentations.
Prime Roots isn’t available everywhere, but quite a few New York delis carry it. If you can make it there, I hear you can make it anywhere.
