Tnuva partners with UK-based Meatless Farm to enter meat substitute market
The meat substitute market has been growing in recent years, spurred on by an increasing combination of health and environmental concerns.
By AARON REICHA Tnuva truck enters the company's logistic centre in the southern town of Kiryat Malachi, Israel May 22, 2014. (photo credit: REUTERS/AMIR COHEN/FILE PHOTO)
Israeli food provider Tnuva announced an expansion into a new market, the meat substitute product market, Globes reported Tuesday.Tnuva, which is Israel's largest food company, will start importing the products of Meatless Farm, a Leeds-based company that produces plant-based substitutes for sausages, hamburgers and minced meat.While Tnuva's status as the largest food company in the country, it will face competition as it branches into this new market. Chief among their competitors is Diplomat, which imports the plant-based meat alternatives of Meatless Farm's US-based competitor Beyond Meat and distributes them to restaurants and retail chains, Globes reported.The meat substitute market has been growing in recent years, spurred on by an increasing combination of health and environmental concerns.Notably, Israel has managed to secure itself as an early and leading player in the market, particularly regarding plant-based culinary innovation and cultured meat, grown in the laboratory from extracted animal cells, both of which have found a home in the Start-Up Nation's thriving agri-tech sector. Indeed, multiple start-up firms in Israel were established to break into this lucrative market.One such company – Mixony, which provides a new range of dry, plant-based protein products that simply require mixing with water – had already partnered with the Rami Levy supermarket chain to sell products such as minced meat, chicken and bakeable cheese alternatives.Eytan Halon contributed to this report.
