This plant-based products to launch in third UK supermarket

The London-based company reports sales of its chicken and bacon alternatives are growing fast, and 2020 revenue is tipped to hit £7 million

Plant-based meat start-up This is launching its products in 412 Asda stores this week. The London-based company produces chicken and bacon alternatives made from peas and soya beans. This launched in Sainsbury’s two weeks ago and Tesco in June, so is now available in three of the UK’s ‘big four’ supermarkets.

Andy Shovel, co-founder of This said: “Launching into Asda is a huge opportunity for us. The pandemic has definitely been a bit of a curveball, but luckily people still like to eat. We’ve had to pivot our sales strategy from about 70% retail and 30% foodservice to mostly retail at 85%. Fortunately, the demand for plant-based foods has really surged during the pandemic.

“We want This to smash through the plant-based stereotypes and show meat-eaters that they really don’t need to compromise when it comes to plant-based food. We launched just over a year ago – myself and co-founder Pete definitely had less grey hair back then but, being able to grow at such speed makes it worth it.” 

This stated that during the first wave of Covid-19 its retail sales doubled through its partnerships with Holland & Barret, Waitrose, Ocado and Co-op – and that last month its sales grew by 40%.

The company also raised £3.7 million in crowdfunding in August and it was taken into Tesco’s incubator programme earlier this month. It is projecting to report £7 million in revenue this year.