Plant-based startup, Vegan Pig, has created what it describes as ‘the world’s first’ pork-free scratching.
Founded by advertising creatives Josh Pearce and Sean Johnson, Vegan Pig’s meat-free alternative to pork scratchings are made by flash frying soy pieces and then seasoned with a secret spice mix.
‘A mad idea’
“Two years ago, we were sat a the pub and had a mad idea,” the Vegan Pig’s Kickstarter reads. “We wondered if it was possible to create a totally vegan version of the humble pork scratching – that not only tasted like the real thing but had the same texture and crunch.
“So we reached out to different food product development specialists and tasked them with this bizarre challenge. One of those companies, Tastehead, absolutely smashed it.
“It’s been a long and wild ride but now, we finally have a product that we’re delighted with and want to share with the world.”
‘A dirty meat substitute’
Johnson told the Guardian: “It is a dirty meat substitute that tastes like it’s going to be bad for you, but isn’t actually that bad at all.
“It even has a dual texture so you have both the softer ‘fat’ bit you get in a scratching, as well as the crunchy ‘skin’ layer.”
Vegan Pig aims to raise £5,200 to help ‘scale-up’ on its production – and meet the minimum orders required to use 100 percent recyclable packaging.
Click here to donate to Vegan Pig’s Kickstarter
*This article was updated on July 14 to remove ‘World’s first’ from the headline, after it was found a US competitor had also created a plant-based pork scratching