UK leading supermarket, Tesco, has launched a new heat-and-serve vegan chicken, a representative for the store confirmed to LIVEKINDLY via email.
The new product will be available at stores across the UK, joining the chain’s fishless fishcakes, as well as meat-free chicken nuggets, and avocado and peanut burgers, among others, in its pre-existing meat and dairy free range.
Tesco has been leading the way in terms of vegan products over the last few months, partly due to the appointment of Wicked Healthy co-founder, Derek Sarno, as the Director of Plant-Based Food Innovation for the supermarket. Sarno’s own products, the Wicked Healthy range of vegan ready meals, including sourdough pizzas, naked burritos, and Thai curry, launched across six hundred stores back in January. “For too long, vegans have been overlooked, with many offerings that are available seemingly created to appease rather than truly please,” Sarno stated.
The vegan chef is also aware that it is not just vegans he needs to satisfy, but also omnivores. “My intention was to appeal to the hardest core meat eaters,” Sarno explained. “Everyone wants to eat more veggies and we’re making it dead easy to do so.”
Sarno was also the driving force behind Tesco’s new partnership with Swedish vegan meat producer, Oumph! announced last week. “When I tasted Oumph! for the first time, I knew directly that it would fit perfectly with Tesco,” Sarno said in a statement. “We are currently seeing a massive demand for plant-based food.”
Anders Wallerman, co-founder and CEO of Food for Progress, Oumph!’s parent company called Tesco “the perfect partner” noting that it’s, not only because of their size “but also because they are at the forefront of British grocery chains for good and durable products.”
