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Quorn to launch blended meat-mycoprotein products

One of the original meat-free brands, Quorn is to start making blended meat-mycoprotein products via its B2B division. By doing so it could reach more flexitarian consumers – but does it risk alienating its core vegan/vegetarian base?

Quorn said this strategic move is part of its evolution from a brand that wants to “help a few people eat no meat” to one that “helps everyone eat less meat”.

The project will involve Marlow Ingredients, Quorn’s B2B ingredient division created last year, supplying Quorn mycoprotein to key foodservice operators and health service institutions in the UK, including the National Health Service (NHS), to replace 100% meat-based sausages and burgers with blended versions.

The products, made of 50% mycoprotein and 50% meat, should be available at the end of the year and will help support meat-reduction targets that are necessary to combat climate change, the company said.

Targeting flexitarian eaters

Peter Wennstrom, founder of food branding consultancy, the Healthy Marketing Team (HMT), told Ingredients Network that targeting foodservice channels and institutions such as hospitals could be a winning strategy.

“Since the consumers of these hybrid products are likely to be patients of these care institutions, most often an older demographic, we can draw the conclusion that it has to be familiar meat formats like sausages and meat loafs and similar formats, where the qualifier is taste and texture that imitates the original,” he said.

“This would be a good strategy for foodservice and hospitals because in retail, these older consumers might not choose such products as they are not looking for it. And this is usually the demographic that needs to change but doesn’t want change.”

Quorn’s reputation may be protected by the fact that this strategy is being pursued by the B2B entity. The finished products will not feature the brand name Quorn but will reference the use of mycoprotein in the product. (Mycoprotein can be allergenic for some people.)

“We are far away from a plant-based consumer market and we are far away from the Quorn brand,” Wennstrom added. “It’s an ingredient business well separated from the branded consumer business, Quorn.”

Aurore de Monclin, senior partner at HMT referenced its research and consumer surveys which have shown that flexitarians in the UK do not like the taste of Quorn. The brand has therefore struggled to attract this demographic and this shift in positioning, according to de Monclin, “clearly showed” that Quorn was attempting to court flexitarians via the most effective strategy it has identified to overcome the taste barrier: meat blends.

Hybrid blends: Both traditional and modern

Arguably, creating a blended meat-plant-based product is not a huge departure from the classic iteration of many traditional products. Sausages in the UK, for example, are typically made with a blend of pork meat and cereals.

Nor is this the first time a major brand has entered the hybrid category. US meat giant Tyson Foods launched a burger patty that blended Angus beef with pea protein under its Raised & Rooted brand (although the product has since been pulled from shelves) while poultry processor Perdue’s Chicken Plus product blends chicken with cauliflower, cabbage, and chickpea protein.

Earlier this month, Nestlé – the biggest food and drink manufacturer in the world – launched a “meat extender” product under its Maggi brand in Chile. Made with soy protein and spices, the Nestlé product, called Rindecarne, is to be mixed with meat by consumers in the home, allowing them to double the amount of servings at an affordable price while retaining the nutritional value and without compromising on taste, Nestlé said.

Rindecarne is positioned firmly around cost savings for the consumer while Perdue’s Chicken Plus is marketed as offering parents a “kid-approved” way of getting children to eat more vegetables.

Alienating vegans

While such arguments can appeal to flexitarians, HMT analysts said that traditional vegetarian consumers who feel loyal to the Quorn brand could feel alienated by its strategic move – particularly given the company’s reputation for being one of the original pioneers of meat-free eating.

“… animal farming products are an absolute no-no for [vegans],” de Monclin said. “Although it is a B2B proposition, it is already being communicated and spread on social media. You can be sure that the vegan activists will hear about it sooner than later.”

Marit Veenstra, brand strategist at HMT, warned: “A Quorn branded meat hybrid is far from the once vegetarian pioneer brand Quorn and its predominantly vegan consumers. So, from a B2C brand point of view, this might not be the way forward.”