Ready Burger, a UK based vegan fast food chain offering plant burgers and more at price parity with conventional McDonald’s options, announces it is working to improve the fat used in its burgers through a partnership with world-famous flavour and fragrance manufacturer Givaudan.
Givaudan has developed a new technology called PrimeLock+, which imitates animal fat and locks flavour and moisture into proteins. It is said to enable the fat content of meat alternatives to be reduced by up to 75%.
Last year, Givaudan received two awards for the technology — The International V-Label Award and Best Ingredients Innovation at The Gulfood Manufacturing Industry Excellence Awards. Ready Burger will be one of the first companies worldwide to integrate the patent-pending solution into its proteins, and is currently running preliminary tests.
“Givaudan is committed to helping its customers create delicious plant-based products that consumers enjoy,” said Sylvain Jouet, Global Product Manager for meat substitutes at Givaudan. “To do this, we have built wide-ranging expertise and a growing suite of Integrated Solutions and Technologies in the alternative protein space. In 2019, we asked ourselves how we could improve the eating experience of plant-based burgers; after extensive research and development, we are excited to launch PrimeLock+™, a unique solution that delivers multiple benefits.”
Crowdfunding round
The news comes as Ready Burger prepares to launch its second crowdfunding round. The company’s first round took place in 2021, with the £1.5 million target reached within hours before being extended to £2 million.
Ready Burger currently operates two sites in London, with more reportedly in the pipeline. The chain claims to be the first vegan burger outlet with prices rivalling McDonald’s and Burger King; last year, it launched a 99p burger for Veganuary. After selling over 2,000 burgers per week, Ready Burger decided to make the option a permanent fixture.
“Ready Burger is 100% plant-based, so there is no cross-contamination in the kitchen and customers can be confident the company shares their values – a plant burger emits 92% fewer greenhouse gas emissions, needs 93% less land and 70% less water than a beef burger,” said co-founder and COO Adam Clark.
