Heather Mills in blue suit

© Heather Mills

Investments & Acquisitions

Heather Mills Acquires Alternative Stores to Create a Central Hub of ‘Hero’ Plant-Based Products in the UK

Heather Mills, owner and founder of VBites who was recently recognised as ‘Vegan Woman of the Year‘ at the 2024 Vegan Women’s Summit in Los Angeles, announces the acquisition of the award-winning online plant-based store Alternative Stores. This latest addition to Mills’ vegan portfolio aims to offer support to hundreds of family businesses and assist with the launch of their own brands, and follows last year’s acquisition of the Plant & Bean manufacturing facility in Boston, UK, which was facing administration. Alternative Stores lists a wide variety of notable plant-based brands including UK egg alternative producer Sinless Food; Naturli butter; LoveRaw confectionery; Violife cheese; Mummy Meegz chocolate and treats; and of course, VBites, in addition to other categories such as footwear, household, pet food, and …

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Heather Mills leads protest in the dining hall at the Bonn Climate Conference(

© Plant Based Treaty

Fairs & Events

Heather Mills Causes a Stir with Impromptu Vegan Protest at Bonn Climate Conference

Vegan activist and founder of VBites, Heather Mills, recently named Woman of the Year at this year’s Vegan Women Summit, previously announced she was to appear at the Bonn Climate Conference to call for a global Plant Based Treaty and hand out 2000 free VBites hotdogs. During the event in Germany this week, Mills together with around a dozen climate activists began an impromptu protest inside the dining hall while delegates and UN officials queued for their lunch, with chants of, “If you care about the climate, eat vegan for your lunch” and “Food system change now, sign the Plant Based Treaty.” “Antonio Guterres, the UN Secretary-General gave a great speech yesterday BUT why is he not talking about the real issue; production of meat, …

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Heather Mills at Vegan Women Summit

© Vegan Women Summit

Fairs & Events

“Woman of the Year” Heather Mills to Call for Plant Based Treaty at Bonn Climate Conference

Vegan entrepreneur and charity campaigner Heather Mills is set to appear at the Bonn Climate Conference in Germany this week to call for a global Plant Based Treaty. Advocates for the treaty will set up a food truck at the entrance to the conference, giving out 2000 free hotdogs donated by Mills and her plant-based food company, VBites. At the conference, Mills will urge world leaders to make policy changes such as shifting subsidies from animal agriculture to the plant-based sector. She will also meet the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to discuss a pathway to 100% plant-based catering at future climate conferences such as COP29. 18,000 people have already signed the Plant Based Treaty’s petition calling for all food served at …

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Heather Mills in blue suit

© Heather Mills

People

Heather Mills Sets the Record Straight. “A Reset Was Entirely Necessary and I’m Delighted to Be Back at the Reins”

In 2009, Heather Mills purchased Redwood Wholefoods, a health food company operating since 1993. The company would become VBites and go on to develop and sell 130 products to more than 20 countries. Fifteen years later, just last week, Mills bought the company once again. Here, she explains some of the events that happened in between, and puts the record straight in terms of several misreported details around the situation. In 2018 Heather bought a second factory in Newcastle to focus on cheese alternatives, launching Morrisons’ first vegan cheese product as a private label. The following year, at the height of the plant-based boom and just weeks before the Beyond Meat IPO, VBites acquired a 385,000 sq ft factory in Peterlee with intentions of creating …

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Heather Mills saves VBites from administration

© Heather Mills

Company News

Heather Mills Saves VBites From Administration, Purchasing Assets for £1M

Heather Mills has saved VBites from administration after purchasing the company’s assets “at great personal cost”, in a deal reported by administrator Interpath Advisory to be worth £1 million. Mills acquired the 30-year-old plant-based food company in 2009 and has remained a majority shareholder ever since, though German investor NRH acquired 34% of shares in 2021. In December 2023, it was announced that VBites had entered administration, with Mills blaming various factors such as “corporate greed”, Brexit, “galvanised misinformation” from the meat and dairy industries, and “nefarious practices” by utility companies that made energy unaffordable. Interpath Advisory said VBites’ move to a larger facility in 2021 had compounded the company’s difficulties by increasing operating costs. But in a recent LinkedIn post, Mills said VBites had …

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VBites Mills FB

Heather Mills. ©VBites

Company News

VBites Enters Administration: Heather Mills Cites Corporate Greed, “Galvanised Misinformation” & Nefarious Practices

VBites Food, a UK-based producer of meat and cheese alternatives founded by Heather Mills, has called in administrators. VBites Food was founded 30 years ago, making it a pioneer in the UK plant-based movement. The company supplies both retail and food service, and exports its products to over 20 countries. VBites’ UK customers include Morrisons, Ocado, and Dominos. In a detailed statement on her website, Mills blamed various factors for the troubles faced by the company, including “corporate greed” in the market and “galvanised misinformation” from the meat and dairy industries. She also criticised Brexit, which she said had been an “utter disaster” for the plant-based industry, and claimed that “nefarious practices” by utility companies had made energy so expensive that companies could no longer …

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VBites Mills FB

Heather Mills. ©VBites

Manufacturing & Technology

Heather Mills Saves Plant & Bean Facility From Administration

UK alt meat manufacturer Plant & Bean (P&B) has been saved at the eleventh hour after it was bought from administration by plant-based entrepreneur Heather Mills. Plant & Bean operates a 125,000-square-foot site in Boston, Lincolnshire, which was described as “Europe’s largest” alt meat facility when it first opened in 2020. The site produces meat alternatives for brands such as Quorn and Wicked Kitchen. However, P&B ran into difficulties earlier this year due to increases in food and energy prices, along with a lack of investment. The manufacturer appointed administrators on May 31. Mills, who is the founder of plant-based group VBites, has now acquired the facility and equipment for an undisclosed sum. According to Business Live, two companies operated by Heather Mills — Vegan …

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