ENOUGH has announced a collaboration with global consumer goods company Unilever to bring new plant-based meat products to market.
Demand for meat alternatives has grown by up to 50% in the last year, and to meet the projections[i] that 10% of protein will come from non-animal sources by 2035, there is a need to add 10,000 tonnes per day of new non-animal protein sources every day for the next 5,000 days.
ENOUGH’s purpose is to make protein sustainable by growing the most sustainable and scalable source of protein. ENOUGH has previously announced plans to build a first of its kind high scale facility in the Netherlands to produce ABUNDA® mycoprotein as a B2B food ingredient. The first production will take place in 2022 and the company has plans for 50k tonnes of installed capacity by 2027 and a vision to produce 1M tonnes by 2032.
Unilever has been expanding its plant-based meat alternatives business for several years, acquiring The Vegetarian Butcher in 2018 and expanding the plant-based meat brand into more than 45 countries.
ENOUGH and Unilever have agreed on plans to use ABUNDA mycoprotein, a complete food ingredient containing all 9 essential amino acids as well as being high in dietary fibre, as a natural fit for The Vegetarian Butcher. With a broad range of products for meat lovers, flexitarians, vegetarians, and vegans alike, the brand is on a mission to become the largest butcher in the world by inspiring a plant-based food revolution.
ABUNDA is grown by feeding fungi with sugar feedstocks, sourced from sustainable grains, in a large-scale continuous fermentation process. This process is similar to that used to create beer and produces a whole biomass with a meat-like texture that is high in both protein and fibre. Furthermore, being neutral in taste and naturally low in fat ABUNDA supports the development of Delicious, Nutritious and Sustainable foods that allow consumers to change what they eat, not the way that they eat.
ENOUGH’s aim to grow 1 million tonnes is equivalent to replacing 5M cows or more than 1bn fewer chickens. This has the impact of reducing CO2 emissions by approximately 6M tonnes, the equivalent of planting >30 million trees. ABUNDA is sustainable through its advantaged feed conversion, low carbon footprint and water usage. There is extensive data supporting lower water use, lower carbon emissions, and better land usage.
Jim Laird, CEO, and Co-Founder of ENOUGH said “we are delighted about this collaboration with Unilever and its brands. The Vegetarian Butcher’s ambition to become the biggest butcher in the world aligns strongly with our desire to create impact at scale. The role of non-animal sources of protein is extending rapidly from occasional meals and snacks to everyday foods, which need to be healthy and nutritious.
Collaboration is a critical component of the ENOUGH strategy and this type of relationship exemplifies our desire to work with leading brands and food manufacturers spanning multiple categories to make foods with clean and consumer-friendly ingredients and processes.”
[i] GFI : State of the Industry Report – Fermentation.
