Sainsbury’s to launch fake meat burgers and mince

The meat-free products, including burgers and mince, are set to launch in 400 of the retailer’s larger stores at the end of the month and will be positioned in the chiller aisle with the meat products.

“We are seeing an increasing interest from our customers in plant-based foods, with sales of our current meat-free range growing 20% each week,” ​says James Hamilton, meat-free and ready meals buyer at Sainsbury’s.

“We’re always exploring new ways to offer even greater choice, quality and value and our new Naturli’ mince and burgers are a brilliant example. These are our most authentic meat alternatives yet and, for this reason, we plan to stock them with our mince and burgers.”​

Overwhelming demand​

Henrik Lund, ceo of Naturli’ Foods, which produces the range said: “We are experiencing this overwhelming demand because this is indeed a food innovation. This is the first time consumers can buy a 100% plant-based mince product that looks and tastes like minced beef, can replace minced beef in all recipes, and can be found in the cold counter next to traditional meat.”​

The product has received the backing of The Vegan Society, which has awarded the product with its internationally recognised Vegan Trademark.

Meat alternatives​

It said: “With increasing interest in meat alternatives that mimic the appearance and texture of meat, it is sure to be a hit in the UK market and beyond. It has great potential to help people make the transition to a vegan diet, being of a similar consistency, availability and price to meat.”​

Naturli’ Foods said it expected to sell half a million packs of Naturli’ Minced in the first year in the UK 

It added that the product has an umami flavour that comes from almonds, tomatoes and porcini mushrooms, while the colour comes from beetroot.