Australians will soon have access to plant-based meats at major supermarkets with Beston Global Food Company (ASX: BFC) entering into a manufacturing agreement with domestic food company Soulfresh. 

Currently producing plant-based meats under the brands Eaty and Wildly Good brands, Soulfresh’s plant-based meat products were sold out at Independent Supermarkets in June, leading Coles to accept the range for national distribution and Woolworths following suit. 

“The partnership between BFC and Soulfresh came about as a result of Soulfresh recognising the breadth of our capabilities and cutting-edge food technology which has been developed at Provincial Food Group since BFC took 100% control of this business in August 2018,” said Beston CEO, Jonathan Hicks.

“With Australia projected to continue as the third-fastest-growing Vegan market in the world, both companies have an aligned vision. 

“BFC aims to provide natural and verifiably safe food and beverages to global markets so consumers can make healthy choices. Soulfresh aims to take food that people love and make it better. Combining the synergies of vision, purpose, agility and innovation, at Soulfresh with the production capabilities of BFC has produced a winning partnership for the supply of alternative meat products into a rapidly growing food category.”

In recent years, there has been an undeniable trend in the developed world to shift healthier eating with research conducted by Roy Morgan finding 12.1% of the Australian population now eating all or almost all vegetarian products. 

Plant-based meats first came to mainstream prominence in 2016 when American company Beyond Meat (NASDAQ: BYND) commercialised it’s first plant-based burger to be sold in the meat section of supermarkets. Since listing on the Nasdaq with an IPO offer price of USD $25 per share in May 2019, shares soared as high as $234.90 in July 2019 before pulling back and now sitting around $160. 

Highlighting interest in plant-based meat substitutes, Beyond Meat tested their Beyond Fried Chicken product at an Atlanta KFC, which was sold out in five hours. 

Soulfresh was founded 15 years ago by Chef Didi Lo after identifying a growing trend and gap for organic and plant-based foods in everyday supermarkets.