Earlier this year, New Zealand supermarkets began stocking ‘Chicken-Free Chicken’, which has been nothing but flying off the shelves for months ever since the product’s release in late July.
Kiwis have been well taken aback with the long-awaited hype, supermarket freezers are frequently still bare of the product as is continually snapped up.
However, this vegan-friendly chicken, made from pea protein was only the beginning of Sunfed’s efforts to pioneer a vegan future. Sunfed’s Chief Executive and founder Shama Lee said “I don’t want us to just get in the game, I want us to lead the way.”
Recognising the widespread and increasing NZ consumer demand for other meat-less meats and following the massive success of their product, on-demand pig-free bacon and cow-free beef are set to roll out.
For a country still heavily-reliant on animal agriculture and farming, Sunfed’s efforts are very commendable and help Kiwi’s shift their meat and dairy love-affair towards a more plant based affinity.
Sunfed Meats said the company developed chicken-free chicken before a red meat or bacon alternative. Lee stated “[w]e challenged ourselves to a high bar of not making a patty, but a piece of fleshy meat with long succulent fibres that would be a good replacement to boneless skinless chicken breast pieces”.
Chicken also happens to be the greatest consumed flesh in the Western food world.
While excited NZ residents can’t mark an exact date in calendars, ready to queue outside the supermarket just yet – it can be expected to find these two new “meats” early next year.
Consumers will have to patiently wait until Sunfed Meats confirms whether their “beef” and “bacon” will also be made from pea protein, alike the existing chicken-free chicken. However, considering the company’s purpose is to produce plant based, healthier meats using legumes – these are likely to have a similar base ingredient and hopefully continue as a gluten-free range.
Lee is not waiting around for Kiwi’s to make the connection between meat and animal agriculture. Her goal is to “kickstart a brand new high skilled protein industry in New Zealand that will diversify our exports and strengthen our future.”
So – New Zealander’s, if you can find Sunfed’s new plant based meats upon release in 2018, why not join the plant based movement by picking up a packet before they quickly sell out and try a vegan meat in place of animals?
Image Credit: Sunfed Meats | Shutterstock
