Proudly made for all eaters
Our roots
We have trust issues.
With ingredient labels, specifically. We don’t stand for nitrates or preservatives — least of all the ones hiding behind names like “celery salt” or “cultured celery powder”.
Made for all eaters. Meat-eater approved and top-9 allergen free, so everyone’s invited to the table.
Deli, differently
Our story.
The fix
So we made protein you don’t have to interrogate
It’s a whole food, grown from fungi roots through simple fermentation. Nothing artificial. No preservatives. If it’s not food, it’s not in there.
The dirty deli
Natural doesn’t mean nitrate-free.
Most “uncured” deli meats are cured with celery powder — the same nitrates under a different name. Prime Roots uses none. No nitrates, no nitrites, no celery salt. Read the label; ours is short.
Our brand promises
GROWN, NOT PROCESSED. ALL NATURAL.
Whole-food fungi protein, never ultraprocessed. No artificial ingredients. Nothing to interrogate.
TOP-9 ALLERGEN FREE
No soy, no gluten, no nuts. Safe for the whole table.
NON-GMO
Simple fermentation from fungi roots. That’s it.
NO PRESERVATIVES
No nitrates, no nitrites — no sneaky celery salt.
CHOLESTEROL FREE
Plants don’t have cholesterol. Neither do we.
PREGNANCY SAFE
No nitrates, no preservatives, no cured-meat worries — a deli meat you can enjoy while expecting.
The founders
It started with two students and a question
At UC Berkeley, Kim and Josh kept asking why eating well had to mean choosing between food you love and a label you trust. Years of hard work built Prime Roots to make the cleanest, tastiest products on the market — made for meat eaters and plant-lovers alike.
Why should eating well mean choosing between food you love and a label you trust?
How it’s made
Grown, not processed.
Grown
Food sourced from fungi. Full of umami — meaty taste, meaty texture.
Made
Whole-food fungi protein, seasoned and formed into the classic deli cuts.
Sliced
Sliced fresh for the best taste experience.
Impact & health
Better for you. Better for the planet.
Impact
Cold cuts for a hot planet
- 92%less water than animal protein
- 91%less land
- 9 kgof CO₂ kept out of the air, per kilo
- 89%less water pollution
One sandwich saves about four bathtubs of water.
A week of lunches keeps as much CO₂ out of the air as eleven trees soak up.
Health
Protein you can feel good about
- Top-tier proteinbeats chicken, beef, soy and pea on protein quality
- 0 nitratesZero added nitrates from any source, natural or synthetic
- 12–20 g fiberin a typical Prime Roots sandwich
- 12–20 g proteinin a typical Prime Roots sandwich
Folate, B12, calcium, magnesium and zinc. Naturally low in sodium.
Top-9 allergen free. No soy, wheat, GMOs or preservatives.
Protein quality
Not all protein is equal
PDCAAS: how completely your body can use a protein. 1.0 is the ceiling.
Ours scores 0.996 — above chicken, beef, soy and pea.
Where these numbers come from
- Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, 2015
- WHO / IARC, processed meat classification
- Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, 2021 — mycoprotein protein quality, prebiotic effect, protein per sandwich
- ResearchGate 232737392 — chicken protein quality
- Journal of Sports Science & Medicine — beef protein quality
- The Journal of Nutrition — soy and pea protein quality
- Nutrition Bulletin (Wiley) — mycoprotein nutrients
- PMC4980852 — sodium
- Lifecycle assessment by Boundless Impact for Prime Roots (water, land, CO₂, eutrophication).
Killer taste that won’t kill you
