Redefine Meat: Foodservice focus can convert carnivores and combat plant-based stigma

26 Jun 2024 --- Redefine Meat is broadening out into the foodservice arena in a move the company believes “will make a positive impact on global food systems.” Today, the brand’s products are available in 6,000 restaurants globally — from steakhouses to fine-dining restaurants. Redefine Meat says it is seeing growth in plant-based foods, following stagnation in 2023.

We speak with Edwin Bark, senior vice president and general manager for EMEA at the company, who explains that creating culinary and authentic meat-like experiences in foodservice is paramount to the plant-based movement.

“Demand is expected to further rise in the retail channels as more consumers talk about these positive eating experiences that come from dining in restaurants,” he tells Food Ingredients First.

A broken food system?
With a burgeoning global population, food supply chains and ingredient manufacturers are under immense pressure to provide sustainable nutrition.

“Our food system is broken and we have a responsibility to repair it,” Bark says.

“From our perspective, we can offer products that are as good as or, in the long run, even better than animal meat for people that are also as enjoyable.”

Redefine Meat’s strategy is to “convert as many carnivores as possible,” which he says the company is “on track with.”

This mission means that the company “needs to go through all the relevant distribution channels that cater to the consumption occasions of different consumers,” says Bark. “The foodservice arena is a very important and strategic channel for us because that is where proof of quality, diversity and culinary expertise is delivered by chefs and restaurant chains.”

It is also one of the first locations where consumers can actually — without having to decide themselves on how to cook and what to choose — enjoy the alt-meat products, he remarks. 

Redefine Meat’s strategy is to “convert as many carnivores as possible” with its alt-meat products.“By creating this very culinary and ‘meat-like’ experience in the foodservice space, we are able to bring this demand into the retail channel. This is driven by those positive experiences of a plant-based burger, for example, in a restaurant or a catering location.”

Bark says this often will lead consumers into purchasing for at-home consumption, therefore summarizing that the foodservice space is “driving a form of penetration.” Notably, retail is an important channel because of its size and its accessibility, he adds. 

Plant-based appeal
When the company first came about, it was “obsessed by the idea of creating something that would be as good as meat and delivering products that are meaty in terms of taste and texture without any compromise,” continues Bark.

“From the get-go, we involved Michelin star chefs, experts and butchers to give us feedback and to understand what makes meat, meat.”

Redefine Meat has focused much of its R&D efforts on replicating the molecules of meat by using plant-based ingredients, which is not always an easy process.

“We use proteins like soy, rice, wheat, potato proteins, and then for the fats, we use different bases of coconut and canola oils,” Bark explains.

“When these elements are brought together, we can create a very complex, meaty and juicy experience.”

Bad rap ingredients
Another ingredient that has been used in Redefine Meat’s product range is methylcellulose — an ingredient used as a thickener and emulsifier — which some companies are stepping away from in plant-based food innovation. 

However, Bark says, “There is nothing wrong with methylcellulose. It’s a totally safe ingredient and a very good binder in plant-based foods.”

The challenge is that the name is not very attractive. “It doesn’t sound very natural,” he comments. “Although strictly speaking, it’s made of natural ingredients, but there is a continuous interest to create products made of ingredients with understandable names that people can recognize.” 

For this reason, Redefine Meat has created several products without methylcellulose.

“We have made major progress in this area and we’ve managed to reduce the content of methylcellulose below 2%. Hopefully, in the future, we will have access to an ingredient that is an alternative to methylcellulose but that has a much more natural name.”

Ultra-processed claims
Bark also comments on the “ultra-processed” label among plant-based meat alternatives.Edwin Bark, senior vice president and general manager for EMEA at Redefine Meat.

“It’s a big pity that people are keen to integrate this definition of ultra-processed into the entire plant-based alternatives category. We should be much more focused on understanding that there’s a lot of good processing happening in the F&B industry that wasn’t possible before.” 

“Plant-based food has proven to be a good fit for a healthy lifestyle that can prevent millions of consumers from entering into unhealthy, expensive and problematic lifestyles, and so, we are working on helping people understand that plant-based meat can be consumed as part of a balanced and healthy lifestyle. And that they should not be afraid of anything that defines plant-based as ultra-processed food.”

“Of course, we are looking into solutions that have fewer ingredients and lower levels of saturated fats. But to get there, we’re adding in fibers and so, ultimately, the ingredient list gets longer.”

“This shouldn’t be a problem because those fibers are vegetable-based, but if the mindset is the length of an ingredient list then consumers are looking at the wrong thing,” he concludes.

You can watch a recent video interview with Bark here. 

By Elizabeth Green