Popular pasta sauce brand Prego just launched Prego+ Plant Protein, its first product made with vegan meat.
Prego+ Plant Protein mixes the brand’s classic tomato-based pasta sauce with soy-based vegan meat crumbles. Each serving contains 4 grams of protein.
Several Prego classic Italian sauces are plant-based, including Chunky Garden Harvest, Roasted Garlic & Herb, and Fresh Mushroom. Prego also has a line of Farmer’s Market sauces that incorporate high-protein vegetables, including chickpeas, kale, and white beans.
Prego’s parent company, The Campbell Soup Company, offers several plant-based options, including soups in Campbell’s Well Yes! range. A group of Campbell’s women employees first created the Well Yes! range in 2016 to emphasize nutritionally dense ingredients.
“[They] felt the category lacked a product specifically for them, a brand that stood for something they could connect with and one that used ingredients they wanted, more of like kale, quinoa, and lean protein,” said Mark Alexander, the former president and CEO of the Campbell’s Soup Company at the time.
Vegan Food by Campbell’s
Campbell’s previously offered a range of high-calcium, high-protein vegan milk products through Bolthouse Farms. In 2017, the Campbell Soup Company announced that it would join the Plant Based Foods Association (PBFA). The trade association advocates for the interests of plant-based food companies, including leading brands such as Tofurky, Beyond Meat, and Oatly.
Campbell Fresh President Ed Carolan said: “We are committed to providing our consumers with food choices that meet their nutrition, well-being and lifestyle needs.”
“Working together with the Plant Based Foods Association, we can advance our shared goal of bringing more plant-based foods to consumers.”
According to Google trends data, interest in veganism increased sevenfold between 2014 and 2019. It now gets almost four times more interest than vegetarian and gluten-free searches on the platform.
Research by data analytics firm Gallup indicates that nearly 25 percent of Americans are eating less meat than ever before. While more than a third of meat-reducing Americans—36 percent—said that they regularly purchase and eat plant-based meats.
Prego+ Plant Protein has a recommended retail price of $2.99 per 24-ounce jar and will soon be available nationwide.
