Born in the south-west of France, Aberyne aims to revisit a local product that is emblematic of French gastronomy. The Biarritz-based company is part of a new line of meat alternatives, offering the best of plant-based products.
Born into a family of restaurateurs in the south-west of France, Mikel, an entrepreneur at heart, has always had a passion for cooking. He discovered the possibilities of vegetable cooking thanks to his father. After a serious heart problem, his doctor banned him from eating meat products; his son then set about looking for vegetable alternatives to foie gras, but the substitutes did not satisfy his keen palate.
With his 10 years of experience in the kitchen, Mikel decided to create a replica foie gras using only vegetable ingredients, as close to traditional foie gras as possible. After six months of tests in the kitchen, and with the help of a chef, he finalised a first version based on cashew nuts. Thus Aberyne was born.
In autumn 2019, Aberyne was selected to be part of the world’s first plant-based food business incubator, ProVeg, based in Berlin. This incubation allowed the recipe to be finalised with the help of food scientists and to prepare for commercialisation.
For the first market test, Aberyne worked with a restaurant in Biarritz during the summer of 2020. The experience turned out to be a great success, as it was the best-selling dish on the menu.
After this positive experience and the feedback received, Aberyne started to be distributed in vegan shops for end-of-year celebrations. Once again, the Foie Green was a success. For this year, Aberyne aims to be present in all organic and vegan shops in France and Spain.
Aberyne will be present at the vegan festival Be Veggie, which will take place from 4 to 6 December in Ficoba, Irun, a small town in northern Spain, where attendees will be able to taste this vegan foie gras.
