Leading the way in plant-based meat alternatives

As the leading plant-based food brand in South Africa, The Fry Family Food Co. know a thing or two about what consumers want. From small beginnings, the brand now supplies eager vegans, vegetarians, and flexitarians with tasty meat-free alternatives across the country and globally, and remains one of the drivers of plant-based innovation in many markets. To learn more about the growing consumer demand in South Africa, Just Vegan caught up with Fry’s global brand lead, Tammy Fry.

FIRST A LITTLE HISTORY - WHY WAS THE FRY FAMILY FOOD CO. FIRST FOUNDED?

My parents started the business from our humble kitchen table in Durban just over 30 years ago. My dad was an avid meat eater, but had given up meat because my mom and I (both vegetarians from birth) had convinced him to. However, like most meat eaters who are reducing the meat on their plates, he craved the taste and texture of meat. He was also looking for ways to make sure the family had nutritious, quality (and tasty) alternative protein options. My parents both experimented with making plant-based sausages and burgers until they got it right. The products were always meant to be just for us, but they got such great responses from friends and family they decided to explore selling them. Here we are, 30 years later with 40 plus products in multiple countries.

HOW HAS THE COMPANY’S PRODUCT OFFERING CHANGED OVER THE LAST FIVE YEARS?

With the increase in demand, has come an increase in the variety of brands and products. This is fantastic because, of course, it has helped make plant-based eating mainstream and grow the concept of flexitarianism. However, competition is a lot fiercer than it was five years ago, so we must be a lot more in-tune with what consumers want. We have to make sure our products are hitting the taste and texture mark, and we have to make sure we are as available in as many retail outlets as possible.

IN 2020 FRY’S JOINED LIVEKINDLY COLLECTIVE, A COMPANY ON TRACK TO BECOME ONE OF THE BIGGEST PLANT-BASED FOOD COMPANIES GLOBALLY. THEN A YEAR AGO, THE COLLECTIVE FORMED A JV WITH RCL FOODS. HOW HAS THIS IMPACTED FRY’S IN THE SOUTH AFRICAN MARKET?

The JV with RCL FOODS formed LIVEKINDLY Collective Africa, which essentially is a highly experienced team of marketing experts whose mission is to grow the category across sub-Saharan Africa. They are doing this with a few of the LIVEKINDLY Collective brands (not just Fry’s). Through the JV, Fry’s and the other two brands (Oumph! and LikeMeat), we now have access to RCL FOODS’ extraordinary network, allowing us to grow. We are all on a mission to make plant-based the new norm.

WHILE THERE HAS BEEN A LOT OF CHANGE, I’M SURE MUCH HAS REMAINED THE SAME. IS THERE A PRODUCT THAT CONTINUES TO BE FRY’S BEST SELLER?

Our Chicken Style Nuggets are always our champions. They continue to astound the most skeptical of meat eaters. We use our nuggets in most of our sampling projects because they are so tasty, so meaty and so easy to prepare. Essentially, Fry’s does snacking well, which is great because our research has shown us that parents feeding fussy kids are looking for healthier options that are easy, tasty, and convenient. We have used these learnings to drive our new product development with a couple of exciting options just launching in the UK and Australia and likely to launch in SA in 2023 (watch this space).

WHY DO YOU THINK MORE CONSUMERS ARE OPTING FOR PLANT-BASED MEATS SUCH AS CHICKEN ALTERNATIVES?

Consumers are a lot more aware now of what impact their food choices have on not only their family’s health, but also the environment. Plus, with the growth of the category in most markets, consumers have so many more options to choose from, making it a lot easier to swop the meat for plant-based. There is also growing awareness in South Africa around the impact of non-communicable diseases like diabetes and other issues like gout and high cholesterol. One of the ways these issues can be tackled is through a well-balanced diet that has less meat and more plant-based foods like fruits, vegetables, good carbs, and quality plant proteins.

Fry’s Global Brand Lead: Tammy Fry

DO YOU THINK THE PLANT-BASED MOVEMENT WILL CONTINUE TO GAIN MOMENTUM IN THE NEXT FIVE YEARS?

Definitely. Plant-based eating or eating less meat is the only sustainable way in the long run. I predict more and more brands, retailers and food service outlets putting energy into better and better products.

HOW DO YOU ENSURE YOU’RE CATERING TO CONSUMER DEMAND?

A lot of research, some intuition and a little bit of trial and error. We also listen to what consumers want and we take learnings from other countries and adapt as needed. Hayley, my sister, is still hands on in the R&D of Fry’s products and works closely with the rest of the NPD team at LIVEKINDLY Collective to make sure we are ahead of the game when it comes to raw materials, flavours, nutritional values – so all our new products and product upgrades are driven by world class technology.

IS IT IMPORTANT FOR PLANT-BASED MEAT BRANDS TO APPEAL TO FLEXITARIAN AND OMNIVORE CONSUMERS? HOW DOES FRY’S TRY TO DO THIS?

Today’s plant-based consumer is predominantly a flexitarian one who is choosing to eat meat-free a few times a week. I believe that Fry’s has always catered for these consumers. When we first launched 30 years ago, a large portion of our consumer base were families temporarily cutting out meat and dairy for religious fasting reasons. In those early days we didn’t have the technology we have now, but my dad was a stickler when it came to product quality. He knew what he wanted and would often spend days researching raw materials or engineering new machines for our factory to make sure he could produce the quality he wanted.

HOW DO YOU PREDICT THE MEAT-ALTERNATIVE MARKET WILL CHANGE OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS?

Growth, growth, growth. Mainstream focus. Plant-based meats in all the chilled sections of all the retailers. Plant-based meats that are even closer to taste and texture of animal meat. Cheese, butter, and milk alternatives that knock your socks off. And a huge focus on nutritional values and local production. The more demand there is, the easier it becomes for brands to find local raw materials and produce more locally.

WHAT MAKES FRY’S DIFFERENT TO OTHER PLANT-BASED MEAT BRANDS ON THE MARKET?

What makes us different is our story. We really are a family business that was started as a way to feed ourselves – three decades ago when very few people knew what it meant to be vegetarian (let alone vegan). The business is now second generation, but all our food is still taste tested by the kids and we genuinely would not make anything we would not be willing to feed our own families. This is why we are still non-GMO, and we work hard to make sure our product quality is one of the best in the business.

The Fry Family Food Co. – www.fryfamilyfood.com