Creators of the world's most realistic meat alternative, new UK company THIS™, are rapidly expanding their plant-based products that taste, look and have the texture of actual meat, into retailers and restaurants nationwide.
Taking the UK by storm – one of the fastest-growing food brands in the country
THIS™ launched June this year but is now both one of the fastest-growing brands in its category and in the entire food product sector.
THIS™ has been growing in revenue by 30-40% month on month for the last three months.
Hyper-realistic products that fool meat eaters
The products are so realistic, THIS™ even managed to convince 25 food critics and food bloggers that they were eating real meat. Watch the video here: We Tricked 25 Food Critics into eating Vegan Plant-Based Bacon & Chicken
Meat eaters prefer THIS™ to real meat
THIS™ conducted a blind taste test on 65 meat-eaters selected randomly from the streets of London. They asked them to compare two different tikka products (bare - no sauces/garnishes): THIS™(plant-based) & a standard supermarket ready-to-eat chicken tikka product. Watch the video here.
- Over 92% thought both products were chicken
- 95% preferred THIS™ to the real chicken product
This is the first time ever that people cannot tell the difference between plant-based chicken and real chicken. It’s a breakthrough in terms of food tech and plant-based meat-alternative realism. Meat eaters no longer have to compromise if they are looking to cut down on meat.
Radically shaking up the traditional world of meat & butchery
THIS™ made headlines (ITV & BBC) in August when award-winning Thurston Butchers became the first butcher in the UK to sell plant-based meat alternatives (THIS™) alongside traditional meat. Alistair Angus who runs Thurston Butchers said: "People are probably thinking it’s absurd for a butcher to sell vegan produce. But I see it as an alternative - we actually get asked a lot by our customers for vegetarian or vegan alternatives, so this provides a perfect answer.”
Revolutionising retail & foodservice
THIS™ launched into 660 Holland & Barrett stores nationwide and Ocado in June this year (with prices ranging from £2.79 - £3.49). The brand is now consistently one of the best-selling in the meat-alternative category.
Despite being live for only 4 months, THIS™ is also rapidly revolutionising food service. THIS™ is available in 140 meat-focused and plant-based restaurants across the country, from Barburrito in Scotland, all the way to Chicken & Blues in Bournemouth.
In August, THIS™ partnered with Crosstown Doughnuts to create the UK’s first Vegan Maple Bacon doughnut. Initially launched as a monthly special, Crosstown have extended the collaboration twice due to its popularity
In September, THIS™ answered meat-reducers' (and plant-based eaters’) demands, releasing the UK’s first vegan bacon roll with Italian food-to-go chain, Coco di Mama. It was nutritionally proven (by Dr Magda Robinson)to be better for a hangover than normal bacon.
Mexican quick-service chain, Chilango, launched their collaboration with THIS™ in July 2019. The THIS™ Isn’t Chicken burrito immediately jumped to 2nd best-selling protein on the menu - beating four other meat-based proteins in popularity. Chilango has now expanded their THIS™ Isn’t Chicken menu range due to such high demand.
THIS™ also collaborated with Lewis Hamilton’s plant-based restaurant chain, Neat Burger, on a hyper-realistic THIS™ Isn’t Chicken burger.
Plant-based food created by ex-burger chain founders
- Meat lovers, Andy Shovel and Pete Sharman, co-founded and successfully exited beef burger chain Chosen Bun, channelling their in-depth knowledge of meat to create the most realistic chicken and bacon meat-alternatives in the world
- Following two years of research and development, partnering with world-leading texture scientists and flavourists, THIS™ mimics meat in taste, texture, appearance and smell, but without the ethical or environmental impact, instead of using peas and soya beans as the base
- Only the products that can truly fool a carnivore into thinking they’re eating meat make the final cut,
- THIS™ challenges legacy “plant-based meat” brands by targeting meat-reducers as opposed to purely vegans. With a core belief that meat-eaters shouldn’t have to compromise if they want to cut down on meat, the brand is bold, modern, & rebellious – without making a judgement on consumers’ eating habits
- Love of bacon is one of the main reasons cited by meat-eaters for not reducing meat-intake. THIS™ Isn’t Bacon is the first product that can be used interchangeably with real bacon without making any sacrifices flavour-wise
THIS™ Eco credentials
- THIS™ has minimal CO2 emissions in production vs. meat: for example, beef produces 50kg of CO2 emissions and pork produces 13.3kg of CO2 emissions per kg of food produced, whilst THIS™ produces 1.2kg
- THIS™ has significantly less water consumption, standing at 121L per kg, compared to 4184L for beef and 1782L for pork
- Its longer shelf-life than meat further helps reduce food waste
- All ingredients are sustainably sourced
Award-winning hyper-realistic products
- THIS™ Isn’t Bacon has been awarded a 2019 Great Taste Award- one judge said 'THIS™ is “like methadone for ex-bacon loving vegetarians!'”
- THIS™ won two coveted PETA awards for “Best Vegan Bacon” and “Best Vegan Chicken”
- THIS™ has also been shortlisted for the Food Matters Live Awards and FSB awards (winner TBA)
www.THIS.co
www.instagram.com/this.uk
