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Meat giant Kerry Foods is openly calling on omnivores to ‘cheat on meat’ – with its recently launched plant-based ‘Naked Glory’ line.
The line, which includes sausages, burgers, no-meat balls, and mince, is available in major supermarkets, joins a growing number of vegan alternatives created by meat producers.
Meat producers
Kerry Foods’ other brands include major sausage companies Richmond, Denny, and Walls, as well as Mattesons and Fridge Raiders among others.
It joins major meat producers including pork giant Tulip and US brand Tyson’s in expanding its repertoire with plant-based alternatives.
Flexitarians
The flexitarian market in the UK is significant – and growing. According to a report released at the end of last year by Waitrose & Partners, a third of the population (33.5 percent) now have meat-free or meat-reduced diets.
The report, which is based on OnePoll consumer research of people across Britain – not just Waitrose shoppers – puts the change down to a growing interest in the ‘mindfulness of our wellbeing and environment’.
According to the data, one in eight Brits (13 percent) now identify as vegan or vegetarian, and a further 21 percent as flexitarian – though 50 percent of those calling themselves veg*an also admitted to eating meat on some occasions.
‘Pretty poor products’
According to Kerry’s chief innovation officer David Hamilton, the company wanted to offer a more meat-like product than those already on the market.
“Our aim from the start of this project a few years ago was working out how to deliver proper [meat-free] meat, because a lot of the products on the market were pretty poor,” he told leading food outlet The Grocer.
“The best-tasting meat in the world is cooked on a barbecue, so we wanted to bring that cooked smoke into the product, to take you back to what wonderful meat smells and tastes like.”
