Kepak to launch meat mimicking burger in ready meals range
Made with pea protein, Rustlers ‘Meatless Maverick’ will tap into the growing plant-based market – up 20% and worth £648.4m in the 52 weeks to 13 June, according to Kantar Worldpanel – in a bid to meet demand from shoppers following flexitarian and meat reducing diets.
Adrian Lawlor, Chief Marketing Officer of Kepak Group, said: “It’s important for a brand like Rustlers to recognise this trend and provide solutions to meet it.
‘Easy swap’
“For meat reducers, ‘Meatless Maverick’ provides an easy swap while behaviourally fitting existing habits, therefore requiring less of a conscious shift. Put simply, as a brand with significant equity around tasty meat-based products, we have strong consumer credibility to meaningfully mimic the taste of meat”
Meatless Maverick will launch into Tesco, One Stop and Booker Group in November at a recommended retail price of £2, in line with the pricing model of its bestselling SKU, the Quarter Pounder.
By pricing its meat alternative along its existing range, the Rustlers brand hoped to break down one of the most prominent barrier to trial for the plant-based category – price.
Meat mimicking at a premium
“Meat mimicking products tend to carry a price premium vs the equivalent meat version, which acts as a deterrent,” Lawlor added.
“The Meatless Maverick burger will be available at the same accessible price point as our meat products, appealing to the 52% of people who find affordability a challenge when committing to a plant based lifestyle.”
Kepak hoped the new meat-free burger would generate sales from consumers that found the lack of convenience foods to suit their diet for snacking and eating on the go a barrier to purchase.
Meanwhile, vegan meat alternatives, pastry slices inspired by world flavours and festive biscuit assortments all feature in this round up of new product launches from food manufacturers.
