Quorn, pioneer of meat substitutes, joins Plant-based Food Alliance UK

Quorn, which is the pioneer of plant-based meat substitutes, has joined the UK Plant-based Food Alliance (PBFA) as a full member. It's believed this will strengthen the Alliance’s clout in Westminster. 

“It’s fantastic to have such a strong player in the market such as Quorn join us in our push for policies that promote plant-based eating in the UK,” Marisa Heath, PBFA CEO, said. 

“There's so much the Government can do to encourage climate-friendly diets, in the form of trade, public procurement, research, marketing, plus regulation. And it's vital for us to have the big plant-based companies by our side as we negotiate our way there,” Heath added.

Quorn joins the Alliance, which includes industry heavyweights such as Alpro, Oatly and Upfield, at a time when the labelling of plant-based foods is under threat of restrictions. New guidance, aimed at trading standards officials but, as yet, unpublished, looks to restrict dairy descriptor terms used by plant-based products, such as “m*lk” or “alternative to X” or “yoghurt-style”. 

“We've been fighting the proposed guidance to restrict plant-based labelling for over a year now and we will continue to do this because we believe the Government should be doing all it can to promote the sector rather than hindering it,” she pointed out.

She went on to explain: “The sector very much represents the future of food, producing far less greenhouse gas emissions than the meat and dairy sector, and maturing to provide a huge range of alternatives to conventional meat and dairy products." 

Plant-based diets are also a key to global food security: researchers have found growing food exclusively for direct human consumption, rather than as animal feed and for biofuel production, could potentially increase available food calories by up to 70%, which could feed an additional 4 billion people, worldwide. 

Food security was the reason Quorn came into existence when Lord Rank recognised in the 1960s that conventional farming wouldn't be able to keep up with food shortages and a rapidly growing population and that a new, sustainable protein source was needed. Quorn was born out of research to find a solution to that problem.

“Quorn is such an excellent example of a company using the power of science to come up with sustainable solutions to global crises. We know policy makers will take notice of what Quorn has to say as a member of the Alliance going forward,” Heath added. 

Tess Kelly, Head of External Engagement, at Quorn Foods, said: “Quorn Foods shares the conviction that making positive change happen on our plates is a vital step to regenerating human and planetary health. We look forward to contributing to the work of the PbFA, and are proud to stand alongside fellow pioneering organisations that are at the forefront of providing the solutions needed to speed the transition to a food future that is healthy, sustainable, equitable, and absolutely delicious.”