UK vegan food company Plantalicious launched earlier this year. Under the More than Meat brand, the group's products target a growing niche in the market as more people look to reduce the amount of meat in their diets. Founder Barry Honeycombe talks to just-food about the challenges of getting a start-up off the ground, the business's ethical ethos and his aspirations for the brand.
| BITESIZE STATISTICS | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Plantalicious Ltd |
| Brand: | More Than Meat |
| Products: | Frozen classic burger, lorne sausage pate, veg 'lamb' cassorole, sausage rolls |
| Markets: | UK |
| Founded: | Feb 2015 |
just-food: What prompted you to set up Plantalicious?
Go deeper with GlobalData
Barry Honeycombe: I have been a yo-yo dieter all my life. I studied plant-based nutrition… and it was really from there I decided to make my own diet plant-based. I describe myself as plant-based because a lot of vegan food out there isn't necessarily healthy and I decided to eat a plant-based diet for health reasons. I started making food for myself and people said "you should make this commercially". I have always been passionate about food and wanted to have a food business. So that is when I thought "I could really do this".
j-f: Was it a difficult step to move from being a home cook to establishing a commercial business?
Honeycombe: I'm selling direct to the public online, through markets and servicing wholesale customers. I think I will find that more difficult when I scale up to be able to address requirements from supermarkets or multiples. I think the challenge will be whether I maintain production in-house or whether I outsource it to a third party, which is a decision I am yet to make.
j-f: With meat-free options gaining traction in the UK, what do you see as the key trends supporting this expansion?
How well do you really know your competitors?
Access the most comprehensive Company Profiles on the market, powered by GlobalData. Save hours of research. Gain competitive edge.
Thank you!
Your download email will arrive shortly
Not ready to buy yet? Download a free sample
We are confident about the unique quality of our Company Profiles. However, we want you to make the most beneficial decision for your business, so we offer a free sample that you can download by submitting the below form
By GlobalDataHoneycombe: People want products that have integrity. They don't want to pay through the nose for that integrity but they are willing to pay a slight premium. They want something that is primarily tasty and delicious.
My focus is on taste and flavour but the key thing is [More Than Meat products] are significantly healthier than anything else available commercially. A lot of the vegan foods on the market are high in salt, fat and sugar and I wanted consumers to know they are getting a healthier product.
There is a great consumer trend towards meat reduction. A lot of people, if they are going to eat meat they want to eat meat that has been well husbanded and looked after. They want to have a balanced diet where they are taking two to three days where they are having meatless meals and then eating meat or fish. I understand the vegan community is my most readily available and accepting market, but they are not my only market.
The key [to appealing to meat-eaters] is the products almost fool you. The burger chews like a burger. The lamb casserole has all the flavours you would associate with lamb. My products are familiar, they taste comfortable. That is good from an acceptability point of view, from a palatability standpoint.
I am not trying to create a poor relation to meat; I am trying to create something delicious and healthy in its own right. I am absolutely passionate about the ingredients I use and the quality of those.
There is an element we haven't talked about, which is sustainability and the environmental impact of the product. There is a lot of interest in having less of an impact on the planet and one of the things my products are very much aimed at is to offer a more sustainable [option] than meat. That resonates a lot with millennials and young people.
j-f: How important is innovation to your business?
Honeycombe: Hugely. I am bringing out two new burgers… In Plantalicious as a whole, we probably have at least 15 different products [in development]. I also want to branch into vegan plant-based cheese. A lot of people are either dairy intolerant or they don't like the levels of fat in cheese. But a lot of those vegan cheese are also very high in fat so I am working on a melting plant-based cheese that is a bit like a melting cheddar but doesn't have very much fat and has a balanced profile.
j-f: Is there a balance between developing these new products and managing the growth of the existing line?
Honeycombe: Very much so. I have put a lot of this on hold. The two new burgers I know I can cope with but the others are in the background as I have to make sure I can produce enough volume to manage growing demand.
j-f: How quickly are revenues rising? How are you balancing the need to invest to support growth versus turning a profit?
Honeycombe: We expect to exceed the [sales] targets for this year and for next year, at the very least doubling sales. Ultimately the goal is to be in the multiples and that will be a step-change.
I work on the principle I don't know all the answers. I have a business plan that, when I look at it, it doesn't resemble reality. You have ideas of where you want to go, then the road takes a different turn and you have to respond to that. My attitude in terms of balancing the finances is I am fortunate I have some finance behind me. I am realistic enough to know I am not going to make a profit in the next few years.
j-f: As the business grows, who do you view as your competitive set?
Honeycombe: VBites Foods, [Hain Celestial-owned] Linda McCartney… possibly [Monde Nissin-owned] Quorn. Quorn is moving from being vegetarian to offering more vegan alternatives. I think those are probably the ones I would see as most competitive to me. In a way, I'm not so worried about competition because seeing these companies are investing shows there is huge interest in this sector. It is the future. If you look at the US, you are seeing vast investment by people like Hampton Creek. The market is growing all the time and having competitors is really validating what I am doing. In a way, it's almost like free marketing. My social media team do a lot in terms of leveraging some of the interest going on in the market to stimulate the debate and interest in my products.
j-f: Is social media your primary marketing focus?
Honeycombe: I have a three-pronged approach. One is the commercial media. It is obviously very important people in the trade have heard of me as a company, especially as I am a start-up. On the consumer side, I am in Vegan Life [magazine] because that is my most ready-made audience. And then the third is the social media. Any company nowadays would be stupid not to try and engage with its client base.
j-f: Are you positioned as a premium product and as you scale up would you adjust this for the mass market?
Honeycombe: I have positioned the burgers particularly around Quorn prices. Quorn seems to be the product people equate my products with, so it makes sense to be in the same ballpark as them. I am slightly more expensive because I don't have the scale Quorn enjoys. I had to understand my costs as well as the market. I also think [my products] have more integrity in terms of the nature of the product. My market segment is willing to pay a premium for products that are of a high quality or have integrity. I am not aiming at the pile-it-high, sell-it-cheap model because I don't want to compromise on the ingredients.
j-f: While the meat-free category is in growth, you are also operating in an environment where the multiples are pruning SKUs. As you look to expand in the mass market, how do you prove you are a brand that deserves shelf-space alongside more established players?
Honeycombe: I have given that a lot of thought. I don't have any easy answers. My initial reaction has always been leading with a combination of taste and health. I think a lot of the products out there have one or the other. There is a lot of concern around obesity, heart disease…. I can play to that whole space. If the retailer is looking to be responsible in terms of its product offering, offering very healthy options compared to the products out there, that gives me a potential in.
I'm not saying the supermarkets will rush to me and say: "Oh Barry, please, we want to stock your products." I am not so naive. It also has to offer them high volumes and high return.
I'm interested in smaller retailers and independents because if you can build a base and sufficient demand the supermarkets will recognise they want the product.
Part of my rationale, to de-risk my business, is to focus on some of the independents. I know how easily [the multiples] can change their mind about something – that is their prerogative. As a small company, I don't want to be at the behest of a supermarket when one minute I am flavour of the month and the next you are being edged out of the freezer.
j-f: Are you also looking at foodservice channels?
Honeycombe: I am very keen. I think my products give foodservice organisations the ability to provide a vegan option without having to scale their staff up to create it. A frozen burger that can be cooked in eight minutes is something that is attractive, easy to cook, familiar. It doesn't need a lot of preparation or skill. What that enables foodservice operators to do is offer a much wider variety of options on their menu without having to create any special processes to deliver it. That is my pitch to that sector.
j-f: What are your aspirations for Plantalicious?
Honeycombe: I hope to create a substantial and sustainable business that is potentially attractive to one of the big food companies to purchase. I don't think I can stay independent forever and a day. There is a lot of interest in the sector and I am very keen to develop a number of brands that may attract a larger food company.
I also want to create a company that not only has integrity in its products but also in its work practices and staff remuneration. I am thinking at the moment about paying people the living wage. I do pay more than the minimum wage but I would like to be in a position to pay people the living wage and more. I would also like to find a way that staff have a stake in the company, so you have people who are personally invested in the company.
I am looking for a charity – I am in early discussions with a charity that provides vegetarian food for the homeless about providing them with some of my products. Its not just all about the shareholders.
Yes, the company needs to make a profit in the time-frame I am projecting, but it can also be a force for good in the nutrition it offers, the health of the products and the money it makes being shared amongst the employees and benefiting the wider community.
j-f: Are you concerned if you meet your ultimate objective to sell the business to a big corporation this ethical stance could be compromised?
Honeycombe: I am to a degree. That is a battle I would fight at the time. I have been involved in my career in these discussions. If you have created something that somebody wants enough, if you create something that has integrity, that is part of what those people are buying. If you embody integrity all the way through the company a third-party would be foolish to undermine that.
Honeycombe will be attending Food Matters Live, at the ExCeL conference centre in London from 17-19 November. just-food will be at the event to bring out the latest thoughts in areas such as nutrition and sustainability.
