Redefine Meat: Repairing a “broken food system” with desirable options in retail and foodservice markets
26 Jun 2024 | Redefine Meat
Redefine Meat is now being served in 6,000 restaurants globally — from steakhouses to fine-dining restaurants. The company recently entered retail for the first time in the UK and the Netherlands. Edwin Bark, senior vice president and general manager EMEA, tells us about the move into foodservice and why this is a crucial aspect to the plant-based movement.
Welcome everyone, this is Liz Green from Food Ingredients First.
Redefined meat is now being served in over 4000 restaurants globally, from steakhouses to fine dining restaurants.
The company recently entered retail for the first time in the UK and in the Netherlands.
I'm joined today by Edwin Bark, who's the senior Vice President and General Manager EMEA at Redefine Meat.
So Edwin, we'll jump straight in.
What can you tell us about your recent moves in food service, and the general demand for plant-based meat alternatives?
Good morning, Liz.
Thank you for having me.
First of all, sorry, it's two questions basically.
So generally speaking, I would say, the industry is really getting into much better shape after very strong growth in the years up to 2023 and the kind of a stagnation in 2023 we really see an uptake.
In the, in the beginning of 2024.
As you mentioned before, we've actually, we've, I guess we're even out over 6000 locations where our meat's being served in the food service channel.
And we're very happy to see it, to see the, the, the progress in the different markets.
In, in the UK we've been lucky to work with the likes of, , Brean King and Stonegate, Petty and Bun, Brewdog, not to forget, so some really, big names that have chosen to work, with our, our brand.
Because of the brand, the, the, the way we are as a brand, but also because of the portfolio, so the, the very meaty approach, the quality and the versatility that they were kind of lacking actually, so it seems we're really, , responding to a, to a need, a growing need in the food service, channel, yeah.
Mhm.
OK, fantastic.
Now I've tried to redefine meat products at some trade shows that I've attended.
It's very delicious, but how are you kind of stepping up your game in terms of, there are a lot of plant-based, companies out there with a range, wide ranges of products.
How is redefined meats range different to other plant-based products that are already on the market?
First of all, when we, when we started the company, we were, , obsessed by the idea of, creating something that would be as good as meat because we believe that, you know, people will not give up on, on, on the love for meat.
The whole like meaty experience that, that they know from, from birth basically, is something that, you know, we will not be able to, to let people give up on that.
So the, the best approach to, to really make an impact on the food system and really , you know, contribute to, to, repairing, the, the broken food system is to deliver something that is truly very meaty and is, is basically, without any compromise.
So from the get-go, we actually involved, Michelin starred chefs, meat experts, Butchers to give us feedback and let us understand, you know, what makes meat and, you know, there's hundreds of molecules that define meat.
It's a super complex, , piece that we, we're trying to mimic.
One of the things that makes us really special, I believe, is the focus on R&D.
We have, almost 80 people working in R&D.
We have, actually for About 6 years and we've been working on mimicking, on the base of, of natural ingredients, the, the molecules of, of the animal meat, and we've come to a point where we believe we're truly, very meaty.
We know we're not perfect.
We're not saying this is it, , but if you imagine where we were 6 years ago, where we are now, and so where we can be in 6 years.
The prospect is obviously very bright and it's this approach of, you know, culinary arts and and scientific angle that we we bring together that, that helps us create a portfolio that is truly one step up in comparison to the average of of the industry.
Mhm mhm.
The, the, the general situation is that the, you know.
There's still a lot of small places that do not have the, the same resources to invest in, in, in R&D and develop products that are truly as qualitative and versatile as, as people are looking for.
Mhm, mhm.
OK, so what is it about the plant-based ingredients that help you to replicate these molecules of traditional meat?
What, what ingredients are you using?
To simplify, basically, we have, muscles made of, proteins like soy, like pea, rice, wheat, potatoes, potato proteins.
Then we have, fat which is created on the base of, among others, coconut fat and, and Canola oil and then we have the blood is recreated on the base of cranberry, and beetroot, , juice.
So these three components are brought together to create, something that is very complex but that delivers, this, this, this very meaty and, and juicy experience, the mouth feel, the texture.
It's very complicated.
We're not, as we like to say, we are, let's say protein agnostic and process technology agnostic, meaning that we have for each product we have different compositions of, of our proteins, and we have, and we use different process technologies.
So as long as we can come close to the, the, the, the animal version or, you know, ultimately even beat the, the, the animal version.
It's fine for us, so we're not like some other companies do, completely focused on one single ingredient, one type of process technology.
Basically, we, we are on the, on, on the quest of those ingredients and those technologies that allow us to make the best possible product.
Mhm, mhm.
OK, interesting.
And it must have been a little bit of a sort of trial and error situation in terms of.
Formulating the right taste and texture.
Is there anything else you can tell us about some of the challenges that you came across and how they were overcome?
There, there, there is continuously a lot of, challenges.
I would say, , you know, first of all, we've been working for at least 3 years without bringing any product to the market.
So, , literally we have spent thousands of hours, On, on understanding what makes meat, meat, and, and, in, in all honesty, we, we started off with trying to replicate a whole cut, steak, and, while we were creating this, whole cut which is now, proudly served in thousands of restaurants and we're about to launch this even in the, in the retail channel, we, we did make a lot of, , trials to, to get the taste right, to get the, the texture.
The rights, the, the, the, to optimize the Mallara effect.
Everything that comes to, you know, cooking, and, and finally eating, , a, a plant-based product.
And we did this on the basis of mince-based products and, coincidentally, or maybe not, we came to the point where the combination of all the ingredients and the process that we applied was so good that we said, actually, we have now a burger, we have a sausage.
It was basically merely to test specific attributes of a product, but it's so good what we've decided to bring even those means-based products to, to the market and create a much wider portfolio.
So what I can say about it is basically, there is always the, those challenges in terms of meaty texture, the aftertaste, the juiciness, that's a super complex work that is a journey that we're on and.
Yeah, it's, it's basically with the help of all those R&D people and our quality suppliers that help us to overcome them.
And step by step, we're getting closer and closer.
Alright, lovely.
And then finally then, what does the future hold for plant-based players like yourselves, and why do you think the food service sector is crucial to this movement for consumer acceptance to plant-based meat alternatives?
Yeah, so, so, first of all, so, so our ambition as redefined meat is to build the largest meat company in the world, and this is really not to say how, you know, we are the biggest, it's truly because we believe we have to do something.
About the food system, it's broken, we have to repair it.
And that means that in our, , view, we can, offer products that are as good or, you know, in the long run even better than, animal, meat for people that are as enjoyable.
And with that, we want to make, impact and convert as many carnivores as possible.
And I believe we're on, on, on, on a, a very good track, with, with redefined meat.
Obviously, it will take Like many years before we can claim that we're the largest meat company in the world, but, if we say that we want to make an impact on the food system, and we, if we say that we want to grow because that means that we make a positive impact, it does mean that we need to go through all relevant distribution channels that cater to the consumption occasions of, different consumers.
Food service is a very important and for us a strategic food channel or distribution channel.
Because that's the channel where the proof of the quality and the versatility of plant-based food is, is, , delivered by, by chefs, by chains.
And it's the first occasion where consumers actually without having to decide themselves on how to cook and what to choose, actually can enjoy meat, new meat as we like to to say it in a way that is, that is, optimal.
And so we believe that Creating this very culinary and meaty experience in the food service channel will ultimately bring the demand into the retail channel because of those positive experiences and even carnivores, once having enjoyed a plant-based steak or plant-based burger, in a, in a restaurant or at a catering location, will then decide to buy it at home.
So for us, food service is a, is a driver for, for, for Penetration, and for conversion, retail is a super important channel because of its size and its accessibility, and you know, today I think the plant-based meat industry is roughly $7 billion or so, globally.
When you look at the plant-based, sorry, at the meat consumption globally, it's $1.5 trillion.
I don't think it's a wild idea to imagine that we can reach 10% of animal meat consumption in the coming 10 to 20 years.
That would mean that the industry can grow from a $7 billion to $150 billion.
That is a massive opportunity and obviously it will not be one straight line of growth and so we've seen it's, I, I call it the S, not me, but there's this definition of the S curve of adoption and opposite comes in waves.
So after a strong growth in demand, , impulses.
Through innovation, , there will be a level of, or period of stagnation which we have seen in 2023.
And as we can already see now in 2024, there is again this, , takeoff of, of growth in most European markets.
And so for me, the outlook for the industry is very bright.
I'm, I'm convinced that, with the collaboration which shares a lot of R&D efforts, we can create products that are as good or even better and that will convince carnivores to step into this category and thus That will bring growth.
Mhm, mhm.
All right, Edwin, thank you very much for your insight.
It's really interesting discussion.
Thank you so much, Liz.
