FAQ
Questions? We have the answers…
KARANA comes from a Sanskrit word that means ‘doing’ and a Balinese phrase that refers to achieving balance with nature as a route to prosperity. It’s a word that has taken on a variety of meaning across Asia. KARANA represents our goal to empower everyone to take action, however small, to bring more balance back to our food systems. It also represents our commitment to blending natural regenerative farming system traditions with innovation, using technology to improve what we already have available and celebrate the diverse offering of plants for food in their natural forms.
KARANA is a plant-based meat company that sources crops that support biodiversity, are farmer-friendly and regeneratively-farmed.
Jackfruit is our superhero ingredient that is unbelievably meaty, delicious and versatile. It’s both good to grow and good to eat. It’s 100% plant-based with a fibrous texture with a neutral taste, making it optimal to soak up flavors and sauces for a variety of cuisines replacing ground meat and can be made into a limitless array of formats from patties, meatballs, kebabs and sauces.
KARANA was founded in 2018 by two foodies with a passion for plant-based foods, regenerative farming methods and helping communities to transform the food system for good.
We are currently sold in three culinary cities of the world, San Francisco, Singapore, Hong Kong and soon in Los Angeles. We are launching with premier chefs, restaurants, institutions, private label and eventually retail.
We’d love to chat! Drop us a note on our contact page and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can.
We are headquartered in San Mateo, California with offices in Singapore.
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Get in touch with us by simply filling in the form on our contact page and we’ll get back to you shortly.
We’re in growth and often on the lookout for talented new team members. Find out more about our current career opportunities over here.
Native to tropical Asia, the jackfruit is, as the name implies, just that: a fruit. In fact, it’s a member of the fig, mulberry and breadfruit family – and it’s actually the world’s largest perennial tree-borne fruit. A jackfruit tree can start fruiting three years after being planted, can grow up to 20 metres tall and can produce more than 200 tasty jackfruits a year.
Where do we start?! We could go on and on singing the praises of our favorite plant ingredient, but here are a few of the highlights:
●It really does taste like meat. Try it for yourself to see what we mean!
●It’s amazingly versatile in the kitchen, grabbing onto flavors and spices, and also providing loads of interesting textures.
●It’s a nutritional wonder, with a good source of fiber, no cholesterol, and low calories (compared to meat), gluten-free, soy- free and minimally processed.
● It’s an abundant, sustainable and biodiverse fruit that is largely wasted as a resource – and we want to change that. In fact, each year it’s estimated that 70% of the jackfruit crop goes to waste, with only around 10% being commercialized.
● We love the idea of working with something that’s already abundant in nature and significantly underutilized as it adds valuable income to farmers and their communities.
● Jackfruit trees are pest- and drought-resistant, so small-holder farms don’t require much effort to grow and harvest them as there’s no need for irrigation or tilling.
● A single jackfruit tree can produce more than 200 fruits per year, each weighing up to 40kgs. That’s a high yield for a single tree that doesn’t require much input from farmers.
● Jackfruits are regeneratively-farmed and mainly grown intercropped as shade plants rather than monocrops (like soy), which means they help support other flora and fauna, adding to local biodiversity – rather than taking away from it.
According to Guinness, the world’s heaviest jackfruit came from Pune, Maharashtra in India, and weighed in at – brace yourself – 42.72 kilograms, or 94.18 pounds. It measured a whopping 57.15 centimetres long and had a circumference of 132.08 centimetres (verified 23 June 2016). That’s a lot of jackfruit!
KARANA makes GROUND (US) and MINCE (APAC) meat made from jackfruit that can be used as a substitute for any dish that uses ground meat and can be formed into patties, balls, kebobs and used in sauces. Chefs can create a variety of global cuisines, since it’s incredibly meaty and versatile. In addition, we make dim sum and dumplings. We are constantly innovating new formats and products by listening to chefs that love KARANA.
Our super hero ingredient, the jackfruit is currently sourced from small-holder farmers in Sri Lanka, then the value-add steps are carried out in California and Singapore, close to our selling regions.
KARANA GROUND or MINCE meat made from jackfruit is a good source of fiber, cholesterol free, gluten-free, soy-free, vegan and is low in calories. We do not use ingredients that are genetically modified or artificial colors or flavors. The young jackfruit we use is minimally processed with no denaturing or isolation. We think you’ll agree that compared to meat there are good nutritional benefits of eating KARANA.
We are vegan and don’t use any animal products or alcohol in our manufacturing process, Our KARANA MINCE product sold in Singapore and Hong Kong is made in a Halal-certified facility.
All our jackfruits are grown organically by small-holder farmers, without the use of harmful pesticides, but our products themselves aren’t officially organic-certified.
Our KARANA GROUND and MINCE products do not contain gluten ingredients. Our dumplings and dim sum do contain gluten, due to the wrapper. We’re working towards ensuring all our products will be certifiably gluten-free in the future, but at the moment, we can’t 100% guarantee that there aren’t any traces of gluten in all of our products from the production process.
Absolutely! We are 100% plant-based and totally vegan.
Our KARANA GROUND and MINCE products don’t contain onion, garlic or other alliums. However, some of our dumplings and gyoza products do. Please check the label to see the ingredient list. We always recommend looking at the latest package for the most current ingredient list.
Of course, you can – and people do! But they’re probably people with a lot of time and patience on their hands, because jackfruit isn’t the easiest ingredient to manage in the kitchen. Not only is it absolutely massive and pretty damn unwieldy, but it produces a latex-like sap that’s sticky and messy, requiring some prep and knowledge to manage. Our jackfruits are taken through a proprietary series of techniques that gently develop our signature texture, while retaining the integrity and benefits of the jackfruit as a whole plant. We also spent a lot of time working on the optimum time to harvest our jackfruits to produce the best meat-like texture and taste. That’s because as jackfruits get older, they develop more sugars, so they have a sweeter flavour and fragrance, making it more of a dessert ingredient than a savoury one. Basically, it can get pretty complicated, which is why we take care of all the hard work – so you can just sit back and enjoy the taste.
As soon as we’ve made a retail product that meets our super high standards, we’ll get it out to market. We’re working with our chefs and product developers to make the best possible product, but we won’t take any shortcuts because we only make food that’s irresistibly delicious.