‘My life’s work is going to be about improving the lives of animals’

Back in 2019, Andy Shovel launched plant-based food manufacturer THIS alongside business partner Pete Sharman, not long after the pair had come to an epiphany about the nature of the meat industry.

Having previously run a typical meat-based burger restaurant called Chosen Bun, they wanted to create an alternative proteins brand that could appeal to vegans, vegetarians, flexitarians and anyone else who fancied giving it a go, and thus THIS was born.

“After selling to a major fast food operator in 2016 we decided that the next stage of our careers was going to be dedicated to sustainability,”​ he told the Food Manufacture podcast.

“We made that commitment between us without really knowing where that direction would take us next.”​

During a fascinating conversation, Shovel talks about how his views on meat and the plant-based sector have changed, before explaining why he decided to take a step back from the day-to-day running of the business following the appointment of Mark Cuddigan as CEO.

“I have been a founder for 16 years, but I have learned more in the past five years with THIS than I did in the nine years beforehand,”​ he revealed.

“It has been a really intense journey of education.”​

He also shares a little bit about his plans for the future and his passion for animal rights.

“I have gone from being relatively apathetic about animal welfare, to being someone that is driven and hugely passionate about helping animals,”​ he said.

“The era we are in at the moment will be judged extremely poorly by history and the way that we treat animals, just because we can, is really awful.”​

If you liked this episode, why not check out our April edition when Bethan Grylls and Gwen Ridler spoke to Nimisha Raja​​, the founder and chief executive of air-dried snack manufacturer Nim’s Fruit Crisps.