Edwin Bark, the company’s senior vice president and general manager of EMEA, says plant-based meat is on the rise in many markets. Edwin Bark, the company’s senior vice president and general manager of EMEA, says the market has seen a shift in recent years. It’s a natural evolution in a long-term category.
Bark, who is about to make his first public appearance, says the growth of alternative meat has followed a simple S-shaped trend, as would be the case for any other emerging market. FoodNavigator hosted the premier Protein Vision online event on December 3.
He says the German-speaking market and the Netherlands are experiencing high single-digit growth. It is now time to focus efforts on further developing the category.
This month’s Good Food Institute statistics show that the market in six European countries grew by 5.5 billion euros to €5.4 billion last year. Germany, France and Spain recorded the strongest growth. Italy remained stable while the Netherlands, the UK and Italy were in decline.
The crisis has caused a shake-up in the industry, as brands have disappeared because they failed to deliver on their promises – there are fewer products available. [from competitors] “There are more reasons to innovate,” he says.
Alternative Meats: What Chefs Are Looking For
Bark speaks from experience. He served as general manager of Nestlé’s European plant-based foods division, as well as other senior management positions in the consumer goods sector, before taking the reins at Redefine Meat.
Innovation requires multiple approaches, drawing on talent and expertise from various sectors. Redefine Meat recently hosted its first Dutch Chef Panel at its newly opened visitor centre in Best, the Netherlands.
Renowned chefs joined the company to provide input and ideas on how the product would be used in future catering.
Chefs want high-quality, versatile, and premium meat substitutes. [animal-derived] Bark says: “Meat”
We are a company focused on continuous improvement. As a technology company, we make improvements [to our products] every six to nine months. Imagine where we could be in six years.
Redefine Meat is working on introducing new meat alternatives, such as alternative beef flank steak, in the near future. Redefine Meat will continue to focus on this segment, saying there is already “a wide choice” in the minced meat market.
Redefine Meat's DNA is based on innovation, and this investment will help increase the penetration of its products.
Alternative meats: where to place them in retail?
Bark says foodservice will continue to be a company's launch pad because it's where the company builds proof points and shows product versatility.
We want to offer this alternative to meat where it is consumed. We will be present in butchers, supermarkets and wholesalers as well as in restaurants.
Bark adds that the positioning of alternative meat products on shelves is also changing. Redefine is working with retailers to determine where best to stock them: alone, next to meat proteins, next to meat proteins, or in two locations.
He declines to name the chain but says it is "one of the largest Dutch retailers".
The customer can now see plant-based and animal-based proteins in the same area. This follows successful trials that were conducted in a small group of stores
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