In Europe, Germany is the biggest market for plant-based foods, with the UK following behind as second. In Germany, where we have widespread distribution of our retail products with the Edeka Group, sales of plant-based foods have grown year-on-year – up by 42% since 2020. There’s generally a wider acceptance and willingness to try plant-based foods, which wasn’t the case when I started LikeMeat in 2013.
There are more players and diversity of offerings in the market today. TiNDLE is not the only company making plant-based foods, so we do have the challenge of educating consumers about our products and what makes them different. While we’ve always focused on R&D and product innovation, we are also doing so now with a lens on home cooks and the retail experience.
TiNDLE Foods recently made a move into plant-based milk... The acquisition of Mwah! last year allowed us to incorporate their dairy technology platform and capabilities, which will serve as a basis for future dairy foods. The platform will allow us to create gelato in the future, but for now, we’re focused on the development of our barista milk product.
Our current focus is widening the reach of our current products, which includes the complete TiNDLE Chicken range (for both foodservice and retail) and TiNDLE Bratwursts (in Germany), and continued development of our dairy products.
GQ: What do you feel is missing in the plant-based industry right now?
TR: We’re missing the taste factor and culinary experience on the consumer side in the plant-based industry right now. Food is meant to be enjoyed and is behind so many of life’s greatest moments. We see that a lot of the backlash against the industry hits on that point, and particularly on taste – we feel that’s somewhat accurate when it comes to the overall experience consumers are getting from start to finish when trying a new plant-based product.
What we also need to see are more products that bridge great taste and experience with great nutrition and clean labels. It’s important to have taste together with short, clean recipes that are also nutritious for the consumer. We’re seeing a move in this direction, but it needs to be coupled with what we mentioned earlier on taste/culinary experience.
GQ: As a CEO, how do you view the sales declines of plant-based meat over the last couple of years?
The dips... show that there isn’t a lack of interest, but rather that demand was not as strong as our optimistic projections thought it would be. Consumers are still buying plant-based meats, and what we’ve seen specifically in our category of chicken is that there’s an appetite for new products and brands.
Extensive interview of Timo Recker by Green Queen Media
https://lnkd.in/gWsFVzN7
Strategy and Marketing Executive & Operator | Startup, Growth, F500
3wLove seeing Nadia Kemal channel her inner Simon Cowell. Congratulations to all the winners, and thank you Audarshia Townsend for having us!