MONEY MATTERS
Kerrymaid celebrates launch of Vegan Slices with top tips on how the foodservice industry can make the most from vegan 2 June 2021: Kerrymaid’s virtual launch event, “Up Your
Kerrymaid’s Vegan Slices is the first vegan slice on slice
Vegan Game”, on Thursday 27th May revealed key insights
product for the foodservice industry that tastes, looks and
into the trend towards plant-based lifestyles and the
melts like the original.
opportunities this presents to the foodservice industry.
D
Therese O’Rourke, Chief Technology Officer, RD&A, Kerry Taste & Nutrition, Europe & Russia revealed Kerrymaid Vegan
avid Cullen, CEO at Opinions Market Research,
Slices beat its competitors in taste tests and mouth feel. The
revealed the plant-based market will be worth
product is made from a roll like original cheese slices which
€8bn by 2027, a rise of 5.9% from 2019, according
means it’s more malleable than existing vegan
to ReportLinker.
cheeses which tend to be made from a block
The event was held to celebrate the launch
and can be quite brittle.
of Perfect Melt Vegan Slices, a plant-based
Sam Platt, Head of the Vegetarian
alternative to cheese aimed solely at
Society cookery school, provided advice
professional kitchens.
on creating a vegan menu and making
With more consumers demanding vegan
it work within professional kitchens. She
options, this new product from Kerrymaid allows the pub & leisure, catering, hospitality and foodservice industries to offer a tasty dairy alternative. Cullen provided the following consumer insights about the growing vegan category: • More than a fifth (22%) of consumers consume non-dairy cheese weekly or more often 1 • 43% of plant-based cheese buyers believe there are not currently enough options to choose from 2 • 27% plant-based cheese buyers believe the current options are a compromise over the dairy-based alternatives. 3
covered storage, preparation and cooking. She also included tips on how to sell plant-based dishes, such as using positive descriptive language and including visual signs on menus. Then Biff Burrows, chef & founder of Biff’s, talked about the challenges of being a plant-based consumer and provided his top tips for success, such as including vegan starters and looking at ‘veganising’ the best-selling dishes. The event finished off with a live cooking demo with Kerrymaid Vegan Slices, courtesy of Richard Troman, Senior Innovation & Application Chef, Kerrymaid. The product is specifically for use on hot applications such as burgers, subs, wraps and sandwiches and Troman showed
In terms of what consumers want; better taste, texture and a
how easy the slices are to peel and use in cafes, restaurants
wider range were the top three reasons, and they were also
and QSRs. He demonstrated on a range of products including
the main reasons why consumers are not using vegan cheese
burgers and vegan chicken from Kerry-owned Naked Glory
currently.
products.
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Fastfood Professional • June and July 2021
June and July 2021 • Fastfood Professional
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