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- BFC has entered into a manufacturing agreement with Soulfresh to produce plant-based meat alternative and vegetarian products
- The meat alternative products have already launched under the “Eaty” and “Wildly Good” brands
- Woolworths will launch the products nationwide this month
- The partnership is meeting the growing demand for plant-based products and meat alternatives
Beston Global Food Company (BFC) has entered into a manufacturing agreement with Soulfresh to produce plant-based meat alternative and vegetarian products.
The meat alternative products have already launched under the “Eaty” and “Wildly Good” brands.
So far, the meat substitute brands have received a warm welcome from major supermarkets following a ‘sell-out’ of products across independent stores in June.
Coles has accepted the Eaty and Wildly Good ranges into its stores across Australia, with Woolworths expected to launch the products some time this month.
Earlier this year, BFC’s subsidiary, Provincial Food Group, secured three new customers. One of these major customers was Soulfresh, with annualised production forecasts showing revenues of close to $8 million for FY20.
“The partnership between BFC and Soulfresh came about as a result of Soulfresh recognising the breadth of our capabilities and cutting-edge food technology which has been developed at Provincial Food Group,” BFC CEO Jonathan Hicks said.
Both companies have aligning goals to give global consumers access to healthy food alternatives, which made their partnership purposeful and strategic.
This particular agreement is targeting the growing demand for plant-based foods.
“Research conducted by Roy Morgan has found that the trend in vegetarian eating continues to grow, with 2.5 million people, or 12.1 per cent of the population, in Australia now eating all or almost all vegetarian products,” Jonathan said.
Approximately half a million more Australians are choosing meat-free meals since 2016. This works out to one person choosing to eat less meat every five minutes.
Soulfresh CEO and former chef Didi Lo saw an increasing demand 15 years ago for organic and plant-based foods, stating the demand needs to be met.
“The Eaty range of vegan recipes have the same amount of protein as meat equivalents, which will no doubt be very appealing to the large number of Australians; not only Vegans and Vegetarians, but also people who opt to go ‘meat-free’ at least one day a week,” Didi said.
With Australia expected to continue as the third-fastest-growing vegan market in the world, BFC and Soulfresh have an aligned vision to identify and supply the gap.
