Riverford Feature

The editorial team at Riverford requested our expert take on veggie burgers and the development of plant-based alternatives. Wicked Leeks is their print and online magazine which joins the dots between food, farming and politics.

We explored a brief history of the veggie burger, and what the future of plant-based convenience food looks like next:

Looking back: Linda McCartney was perhaps the first UK brand to bring veggie burgers to the masses in 1992, although plant-based burgers had been popping up in vegetarian restaurants before then. The UK's Vegetarian Society was formed in Salford, Manchester in 1847, but the vegetarian movement as we know it really took off in the 1960's and 70's, and was characterised by high profile veggies like Paul and Linda McCartney. This new London wave of vegetarianism was partly in response to counterculture, and typified younger consumers' desire to exert free will and make choices that were better for the planet. With the rise of ready meals and more industrialised food production in the 1980's and 90's, Linda McCartney's veggie burgers made the lifestyle choice more accessible and convenient.

Alt-meats have fallen out of favour in recent years as consumers look for more 'clean label' products, and whilst Linda McCartney's might have been a pioneer, the brand has not been immune to declining sales in the sector too. We're generally seeing a trend towards plant-forward alternatives which use mushroom, lentils or other whole foods as the base rather than highly processed soy and meat alternatives. 

What’s next?: Ready-to-cook veggie products like sausages and burgers will remain popular with time-poor consumers looking for convenient plant-based solutions, but brands will need to innovate with better, more familiar ingredients. We also expect to see more innovation in the plant-based fat category; meat's natural fat content gives it a unique sizzle and mouthfeel, and makes it suitable to form sausage and patty shapes, whereas plant-based fibres can end up dry and crumbly. Challenger brands like Hoxton Farms or Mission Barns cultivate lab-grown animal fat to mix with plant-based ingredients and make a more satisfying sausage or burger.

For the home cook, plant-based innovation looks more like creating wholefood recipes, rather than imitating meat composite products. Large mushrooms like Lion's Mane can be pressed and sliced to make a nutritious bun filling, or consumers will look to international plant-based fillings like falafel or pakora etc which deliver on flavours and texture, whilst still using whole plant ingredients.