Since Beyond Meat arrived onto the scene, realistic meat-flavoured vegan burgers have been trending around the world, with household names like Impossible Foods in the US, Moving Mountains in the UK and NotCo in South America to name a few. One Spanish brand has found though, that there is still a demand for natural flavours.
Samer Jarayseh Gutierrez launched Spanish vegan company Terra Nostra Healthy Gourmet Foods in January 2017, with a hamburger that can well be said to imitate traditional meat, at the same time as offering others for those who still love the natural flavour of vegetables, such as its veggie burger and falafel, “a product with a texture and flavour that attracts both connoisseurs and outsiders, in a market that is expanding rapidly”.
According to its website, the Barcelona-based company “was created as a result of the search for a natural, healthy and tasty vegan product that would allow complete main dishes to be prepared without preservatives, colourings or allergens”.
Of all the alternatives to animal-based foods, none seems to create more controversy than vegan burgers. The meat industry has often attacked the vegan industry for mimicking the taste of meat by being ultra-processed (although animal meat burgers are also ultra-processed, as well as being carcinogenic).
Recently the European Parliament was about to pass a regulation that would require vegan burgers to be named ‘vegetable discs’, although last week the European Union rejected the proposed measures.
