Michael Pellman Rowland: The Oatly IPO, The Magic of Mushrooms, and The Future of the Protein Market Place

“If we fast forward, let's say to 2025, I think you're going to see a lot of companies in the marketplace using mushroom-based products to create alternatives to things like meat and chicken and within food. And then also alternatives within textiles to things like silk, leather and packaging for things like Styrofoam and plastic and so on.

So, I’m very much a… what do you call it? Maybe, a fungo fanatic. I don’t know if there’s a phrase for that, but I am totally a believer in all things fungi.”

-Michael Pellman Rowland

Michael Pellman Rowland is a financial advisor. He’s made many appearances on Species Unite - this was his fourth time coming on the show. He and I spoke about the Oatley IPO - amongst many other enormous wins in the plant, cell, and mushroom-based worlds.

Swedish vegan company, Oatly went public on May 20th. The company’s initial public offering (IPO) raised $1.4 billion and its share prices (which were initially set at $17 per share) spiked by 30 percent on the first day of trading. This is the second milestone for plant-based companies going public, after Beyond Meat a few years ago.

The future of food is already here and fortunately, it’s happening much faster than many predicted.

Michael is our go-to guru when it comes to the big wins for meat and dairy alternatives. He’s a wealth of knowledge and information and he’s a stellar human being. I learned a ton in this conversation, I hope that you do too.