The Flexitarian Bastards are off to a flying start!

At the beginning of June, the ‘Flexitarian Bastards’—the first food start-up from Limburg producing vegetarian and plant-based products—entered the market with the Vega Frick, a vegetarian version of the frikandel. The Vega Frick received particularly high praise in the press and quickly grew into a success. Through a promotional tour of concerts and festivals in Belgium and the Netherlands, thousands of Rammstein fans and festival-goers at Dranouter, Maanrock, and Bospop were able to get a flexitarian taste of the Vega Frick. Today, barely five months after its launch, the Vega Frick is distributed by 16 wholesalers in the Netherlands and Belgium. More than 100 chip shops, snack bars, event caterers, and food trucks have included the Vega Frick in their snack range, and this number is growing daily. As the icing on the cake, the Vega Frick was nominated for the Horeca Expo Innovation Awards in the food category. It is the first time a Limburg start-up and food company has stood a chance of winning this prestigious award in the hospitality world.

100% veggie, full of taste

The Vega Frick is guaranteed 100% vegetarian but makes no concessions whatsoever when it comes to taste and texture. Despite having an identical taste & bite compared to the classic frikandel, the new product is completely different from other deep-fried snacks. The Vega Frick is unique in its kind due to the combination of an authentic and recognizable flavor, excellent nutritional value, and very low calorie count. All this makes this innovative product a truly healthy vegetarian snack and ‘climate changer’. For comparison: a classic frikandel scores an average of 224 kcal and 18 grams of animal fat, while the Vega Frick weighs in at no more than 74 kcal and just 0.5 grams of vegetable fat per 100 grams. The excellent Nutri-Score—B and light green—confirms its superior quality. During Horeca Expo, the Flexitarian Bastards launched their latest innovations—two new 100% vegetarian snacks! Here too, they consistently apply their flexitarian vision, guaranteeing excellent taste and matching nutritional value.

The ambition: a full range for hospitality, caterers, and even supermarkets

The ambitions of the Flexitarian Bastards don’t stop at the door of the chip shop. There is clearly a shift underway toward more responsible, healthier, and sustainable eating habits. The rapidly growing group of flexitarians is convincing proof of this. Flexitarians aren’t vegetarians, but consumers who very consciously integrate vegetarian alternatives into their diet without completely giving up meat consumption. Market figures show that the consumption of vegetarian products is growing exponentially. In the period between 2012 and 2018, this market grew by no less than 67% according to research firm Nielsen. One in five consumers today very regularly and deliberately buys vegetarian products. Growth is mainly seen in cities and among women. A study conducted by Wageningen University & Research predicts that by 2030, at least half of restaurant visitors will have switched to a vegetable-based menu. We don’t have to look far for the explanation for this ‘climate change’. There is growing attention for both a better ecological footprint and healthier nutrition. More and more people are choosing flexitarianism from a nutritional standpoint: less meat and more vegetables, fish, legumes, and eggs, for example. We are convinced that this switch is irreversible and will radically change the market. The Flexitarian Bastards want to fully commit to this with a wide vegetarian range, including sandwich fillings and ready-to-eat meals, that make no concessions in terms of taste. Plenty of work to do, then, but with the combined know-how and dedication of the Flexitarian Bastards, it’s bound to be a success!

About Flexitarian Bastards

Website: www.flexitarianbastards.com

Email: info@flexitarianbd.com

Flexitarian Bastards bv is the Limburg food start-up of three experienced foodservice professionals.

For them, flexitarianism is not a passing fad but an irreversible trend. Today’s consumer is more conscious than ever and actively looks for alternative food products that are vegetarian and healthier without making concessions in terms of taste or texture. The audience ordering alternative veggie dishes instead of meat preparations has long since expanded beyond just vegetarians. The concern for the climate and the pursuit of a smaller ecological footprint are giving flexitarianism a significant extra boost.

That is why the Flexitarian Bastards develop real climate changers under the motto ‘100% veggie, full of taste’ that meet this need. The first veggie deep-fry snacks are now entering the market. A range of vegetarian sandwich fillings and ready-to-eat meals is in full development.

From their base in Beringen, they primarily target the professional market with their 100% vegetarian products: chip shops, snack bars and sandwich shops, brasseries and taverns, event, catering and corporate catering, and institutional catering.

What is the Nutri-Score?

Following France, Minister De Block also introduced the Nutri-Score in Belgium last year as a health label for food. It is the first label proven to effectively help consumers buy healthier food. In the Nutri-Score system, a color scale combined with letter codes indicates which products within a certain product group are healthier than others. The color and letter of the Nutri-Score label are determined using an algorithm developed by the French Nutritional Epidemiology Research Team. This algorithm links positive attributes (protein, fiber, and fruit, vegetable, nut content) to negative attributes (energy, sugar, saturated fat, sodium (as salt) content) to arrive at a score between -15 (best) and +40 (worst). This score is then converted into a combination of a letter (A to E) and a color (from dark green to red). Dark green represents the best nutritional value (preferred), while red represents the poorest nutritional value (to be limited). Within this system, the Vega Frick scores an excellent B / light green. The classic non-vegetarian frikandel received a D / light orange.

Who are we?

Steve Bonnyns: the food innovator

Steve is a chef and manager with nearly 30 years of foodservice experience. He worked for 12 years at Unilever Food Solutions Belgium and Unilever R&D Food Solutions Global respectively as team leader, culinary advisor, and global lead innovation chef. After that, he was innovation manager and chef for Hamal Signature and Salad Signature.

It is his passion to detect new food trends and translate them into new concepts. He loves developing ideas into concrete and industrially feasible products without making the slightest compromise on taste and texture.

Steve is the author of the book ‘De Essentie’ which was awarded a Gourmand World Cookbook Award in 2012 as ‘Best Innovative Cookbook’.

Erik Carmans: master charcutier, manager, and product developer

After his training as a butcher-charcutier-caterer and several internships abroad, Erik Carmans started his career in the parental butcher shop, which he soon took over. After 7 years, he and his younger brother Luc transformed the parental butcher shop into the modern butcher-caterer-fresh market: Carmans E.&L. In 1999, his career took a major turn. Parallel to his responsibilities as manager of the fresh market and, by then, also the Meat Wholesaler, Horecaslagerij Carmans E.&L., he worked for 5 years as an R&D product developer of vegetarian sandwich fillings and meat alternatives for Creafood, a division of Debic. Their main client was the retail sector, including Delhaize and Carrefour. Better than anyone, he keeps his finger on the pulse of changing consumer eating habits. Erik firmly believes in the concept and success of the Flexitarian Bastards.

Luc Carmans: engineer, manager, and product developer

Luc’s career largely coincides with that of his older brother Erik. In ’96, he joined the business and, with his engineering degree in hand, streamlined the family company into the current Carmans E.&L. NV, where he still serves as financial director. Just like Erik—and this makes the story very special—he was an R&D product developer for 5 years, creating vegetarian sandwich fillings and meat alternatives for Creafood. His connection with the Flexitarian Bastards is therefore obvious.

The orientation of Carmans E.&L. NV took a new turn in 2009. The fresh market was sold, and the two brothers started a collaboration with Horeca Van Zon. To this day, they handle the butcher department and the supply of fresh meat and meat preparations for Horeca Van Zon. The perfect alliance for the launch of the Veggie Frick and other vegetarian deep-fry snacks.

Source: Pubmarket!