It’s been a tough couple of years for meat-free brands, and it’s all come to a head in the last few months, with the high profile collapse (and rescue) of Meatless Farm and tanking valuation of Beyond Meat, shares of which tumbled to just $12.30 down from £234 in 2019.
And those are among the luckier ones. Some meat alts have disappeared from the public consciousness altogether.
Let’s say goodbye to some of those lost in the past few years:
Vegilantes
(2020-2022)
The Vegilantes range was exlusive to Morrisons for much of its run. Parent company Spice lived up to its name with a host of launches aiming to inject some excitement into the category such as meat-free chicken wings, tikka, pakoras and masala burgers made from jackfruit. Sadly, it didn’t momentum never built up, and the range quietly disappeared from shelves.
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Plant & Bean
(2019-2023)
Plant & Bean had been producing plant-based meat for 20 years as the meat-free division of North Yorkshire’s Brecks Foods when it received a £9m investment from Thai manufacturer NR Instant Produce in 2019. One name-change later, it opened what it said was Europe’s largest plant-based meat factory, in Boston, Lincolnshire, but filed for administration earlier this year citing soaring costs and operational disruptions. Plant & Bean owed creditors more than £6m at the point of collapse.
Revolution Kitchen
(2020-)
We revealed in July that Samworth Brothers had begun exploring the closure of its plant-based business Revolution Kitchen. “Despite significant financial investment and the commitment and hard work of everyone, Revolution Kitchen has continued to make significant losses and this is not sustainable for the group,” said Lee Sulivan, MD of Samworth’s protein division in an announcement to the 169 staff at Revolution Kitchen’s Melton Mowbray factory. A consultation is ongoing.
Love Seitan
(2017-2023)
Turns out Brits don’t love seitan (the wheat-based meat alternative). Established by co-founders Steve Swindon and Nick Abear in 2017, the company produced products such as Facon Bacon and Seitan Pepperoni. It also supplied ingredients for Tesco’s Plant Chef own-label range, Sainsbury’s Plant Pioneers and Aldi. The bulk manufacturer attracted investment from Heather Mills in 2018, joining her VBites investment portfolio. However, it closed its doors in August after six years, eventually accepting it could not convince enough people to make the switch to seitan as a meat alternative.
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What the failure of Garden Gourmet says about the changing vegan market
Garden Gourmet
(2019-2020, 2021-2023)
Nestle’s Garden Gourmet has been given the boot now not once but twice. Its burgers, melts, chicken-style pieces, vegan mince and falafels first came to a sticky end in April 2019 after Nestlé said the lines “had not been as popular as hoped”. That the lines were billed as vegetarian rather than plant-based seemed somewhat behind the times. A face lift prior to its 2021 relaunch didn’t help. While the range of meat alternatives is popular in Europe, the fmcg giant just can’t get them off the ground in the UK. Garden Gourmet registered sales of just £2.2m last year, compared with more than £155m for the meat-free category’s biggest brand, Quorn [NIQ 52 w/e 10 September 2022].
Tofurky
(2015-2020)
American brand Tofurky has been around for years, and has permeated the US market so throroughly that it’s been mentioned on The Simpsons. And it came to the UK back when the plant-based market was booming in 2015. It blazed a trail, adding veggie-friendly sandwiches to tap into Brits’ love of meal deals. But, ultimately, being produced in the US, it was ultimately declared not viable.
“During the pandemic Tofurky made the difficult decision to pull out of the UK market,” Tofurky’s SVP marketing, growth and product development Erin Ransom told The Grocer. “Due to rising logistics costs and freight postponements. We found ourselves unable to reliably keep shelves stocked and prices affordable. We are massive fans of the UK marketplace and plant-based food scene. With supply chains and shipping returning back to predictable patterns we may consider a return to the region, shortly.”
The Unbelievable Alt
(2020-2021)
Hain Daniels was perfectly placed to launch a meat alternative brand, as the owner of longstanding player Linda McCartney’s. However, after The Unbelievable Alt launched into Tesco to much fanfare, things swiftly petered out. It last posted on social media in June of 2021. Soon after, requests from customers who could no longer find the brand on shelves went unanswered. Now, its website is out of action, it no longer appears on Hain Daniels’ list of brands and it seems everyone involved has moved on. Parent company Hain Daniels has not responded to The Grocer’s requests for comment.
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