Retailers pushing plant-based boundaries
Three supermarket retailers have walked away with awards from the animal welfare charity: Tesco, the Co-op, and Aldi.
Tesco, according to PETA, has the best range of vegan offerings in its Plant Chef line. Launching around this time last year, the range was developed to bring ‘affordable’ plant-based foods to shoppers.
The range includes plant-based ‘family favourites’, including Battered Fish-Free Fillets made from soy in tempura batter, and Mushroom Pizza.
At the time, head of plant-based innovation at Tesco, Derek Sarno, told FoodNavigator the launch responded to a gap in the supermarket’s own-branded offering following the launch of its successful Wicked Kitchen line.
“While developing Wicked Kitchen, there was a clear opportunity to be working on another line that would be focused on more affordable more familiar dishes.” Sarno added that Plant Chef should make it ‘easier than ever’ to make ‘better choices’.
Co-op is another retailer pushing boundaries in plant-based. The supermarket announced the launch of a new own-brand range, GRO, at the beginning of the year, with the ‘busy’ and ‘on-the-go’ shopper in mind.
The retailer won PETA’s best vegan burger award with The Incredible Burger. For the animal welfare campaigner, the products is ‘win, win win’: “It’s delicious, high in protein, and kind to cows.”
The best vegan ready meal has also been awarded to a supermarket retailer – in this case, Aldi. The company’s Plant Menu No Chicken Masala contains vegan chicken-style pieces that have been cooked in a ‘slightly spiced, aromatic masala sauce’ with brown rice.
Image source: Tesco