After looking closely at meat producers in the Americas starting plant-based projects last year, this series now looks at the meat producers in Europe that have entered the plant-based market.
As vegans, some consumers may prefer not to fund companies that are in the business of killing animals. However, it would be remiss not to acknowledge that large producers have the ability to mass-produce at scale and bring plant-based products into the mainstream, thus helping to lower prices.
This will be the second of our three-part series, following the first installment as published last week, covering meat producers in Europe that have ventured into plant-based, in no particular order.
Campofrio – Spain
Campofrío Food Group, a subsidiary of Sigma Alimentos, is a European leader in the processed meat market with 3,000 employees and nine production centers across Spain. It also operates in 80 countries, exporting its products through independent distributors. The group’s famous brand, Campofrío, offers a broad portfolio, including cured and cooked ham in many formats, sausages, turkey, chicken products, cold cuts, pates, and ready meals.
In 2017, the pork processing giant expanded to the plant-based category with Vegalia, its first plant-based brand targeting flexitarians. The range, including pizza, sausages, and sandwich slices, contains eggs, making it unsuitable for vegans. Later in 2020, the brand launched the Magic Burger, Vegalia’s first vegan-friendly made from soy, peas, and mushrooms.
Since then, the brand has added two other vegan products, chicken flavor fingers and nuggets developed entirely using plant-based proteins.
Ponnath – Germany
Germany’s Ponnath Group brings together several subsidiaries, including Ponnath Die Meistermetzger, the oldest in the butcher’s trade in Germany, dating back to 1692. It specializes in producing cooked sausage, raw sausage, ham lard, and frozen products.
In 2015, Ponnath expanded into the plant-based meat category with the launch of Veggie Gourmet Ponnath, a vegetarian and vegan range offering fresh and frozen meat-free products.
Vantastic Foods, a brand of Velivery GmbH & Co. KG, also a subsidiary of the Ponnath Group, has been offering plant-based products for over 20 years. Vantastic Foods is known for its alternatives to meat, fish, and dairy items, such as sausages, burgers, schnitzels, plant-based cheeses, and spreads.
Velivery describes itself as Germany’s largest and most diverse vegan online store. With over 160 brands and almost 2,000 plant-based items, the company caters to pure vegan, moderate vegetarian, or conscious flexitarian, providing “tasty and nutritional” alternatives to animal products.
Rodag Food GmbH, also part of the Ponnath Group, manufactures Vantastic Foods’s alternative meat, including the brand’s popular Vantastic Burger, as well as nuggets, grounds, and more.
Jan Zandbergen Group
The Dutch Jan Zandbergen Group is a significant international player in the meat industry importing, supplying, and producing meat and poultry products. The Group has three subsidiaries: Jan Zandbergen (Zandbergen World’s Finest Meat), Diviande, and Future Food Group.
Over the years, the Dutch meat leader has ventured into the plant-based food market, focusing on meat alternatives. Jan Zandbergen is the exclusive EU distributor for the British plant-based brand Moving Mountains and was previously the European manufacturing partner for Beyond Meat.
Additionally, Jan Zandbergen, in collaboration with its sister company Diviande, has launched FiftyFifty, a range of hybrid products blending 50% meat with 50% vegetables.
The Future Food Group, founded in 2019 to develop plant-based meats from a butcher’s perspective, is the developer behind the famous vegan alt meat and fish brand PLNT, popular for its PLNT Crab Cakes and Veggie Lovers, a vegetarian range of meat alternatives made with organic ingredients.
M-Food Group, Germany
M Food Group was originally established under the company name Meat Cracks, specialising in the development of customized solutions for meat and sausage products, such as functional additives, protective cultures, and spice mixtures. The company expanded its portfolio to include customized products for fish, dairy, fruits and vegetables and changed its name to M Food Group GmbH in 2021.
The company began supporting manufacturers developing vegetarian alternatives to meat or fish with products including protective cultures for minced products, fat replacements for vegan salami, and batters for vegan nuggets. M Food Group also introduced M-CULTURE® Safe Vegan, a culture designed to address and mitigate the bean off-flavor commonly found in pea protein products.
M Food Group’s line of seasonings, stabilisers and additives for plant-based meat alternatives are only available to food manufacturers. The company also produces a line of vegan gourmet salads, pictured above, and a vegan pulled pork product (see featured image).
“Vegetarian alternatives to meat or fish have experienced very strong growth in recent years. We expect that these veggie products will establish themselves on the market in the long term,” states M Group on its website.
