Best Plant-Based Manufacturing Company – it’s official
We are delighted to have been named Plant-Based Manufacturing Company of the Year at the Food Manufacture Excellence Awards. The win represents an outstanding achievement – a category-shaping development for the business.
It charts an outstanding journey for our business in developing a range of ready-to-eat (RTE) plant-based chicken pieces in just 13 months. The project started as an idea, which was developed on-site in a small pilot plant to trial ingredients, processes and flavours. A viable product was evident and as consumer research showed genuine demand for the product, the business invested. This allowed the team to upscale production, ultimately creating a 100% plant-based manufacturing site to produce the product in the UK.
This year’s brand-new category at the #FoodmanAwards is Plant-Based Manufacturing Company of the Year. Congratulations to the winner, @wb_darby pic.twitter.com/vfDwaAImBx
— Food Manufacture (@FoodManufacture) February 11, 2021
This is a truly a fantastic team achievement, of which I am incredibly proud – Tom Faulkner, Head of Plant-Based
With initial orders secured, production continued whilst the new site was being 
built. Despite the UK going into lockdown all project streams continued, including the logistics to ensure operatives could get to the site, commercial sells-in to retailers and the creation of branded marketing to promote the range. The project resulted in a deadline-compliant transfer of operations to a new multi-million state-of-the-art and 100% plant-based factory with an effort which has spanned, NPD, technical, operations, logistics, supply chain, marketing and commercial.
The judges commented that our entry was a “great example of a company switching to a new product category in response to consumer demands.” That we had “demonstrated a clear commitment to innovation, building customer relationships and producing a quality product. The pace of roll-out from a standing start is impressive.”
Tom Faulkner, (right) Head of Plant-Based was delighted with the win and said, “This is a truly fantastic team achievement, of which I am incredibly proud. The project team undertook an enormous challenge and were set a tough deadline to deliver. Once again our passionate, committed, innovative and obsessive team achieved all that we set out to – with positive feedback from customers and consumers alike for the finished product. To win this award further endorses all that hard work and to be recognised independently is a fantastic boost for the team.”
February 16, 2021
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