French Alternative Meat Company Selects Chicago for U.S. Headquarters

Umiami, a French food-tech company specializing in plant-based meat alternatives, has chosen Chicago for its U.S. headquarters. Umiami recently raised nearly $35 million to support the expansion to the U.S., bringing its total to $107 million in three years according to the Chicago Business Journal.

The company’s first Chicago office will focus on operations, including marketing, sales, finance and research. John Hatto, general manager of Umiami North America, told the outlet while the company won’t have a large footprint initially, there are plans to hire more than 250 employees in the Chicagoland area over the next three years.

Umiami is considering locations including Fulton Market and River North, and the city’s renowned restaurant and culinary scene was a large reason behind the decision to choose Chicago. Umiami uses a production technique mimicking the texture of a meat fillet that they called “umisation,” the company’s unique proprietary protein texturing technology.