Fry’s, which is part of the LiveKindly Collective of plant-based brands, has removed the plastic wrappers from seven of its main products, including its bestselling Chicken-Style Burgers, and other lines including its Chicken-Style Strips, Traditional Burgers and Sausage Rolls.
It means the South African brand’s range – which is sold in Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and Ocado – will now be packaged straight into the brand’s fully recyclable cardboard boxes. The brand said the move would help it reduce plastic use by 1.5 tonnes per year.
The packaging revamp also includes a new look and feel, with a stripped-back, modern design featuring Fry’s new logo – which it said built on its “iconic” red triangle – alongside new food imagery.
As well as a vegan standard endorsement, ‘meat-free’ had been replaced with ‘plant-based’ throughout the packs to acknowledge the wider consumer understanding of the category, Fry’s added.
“The vegan shelves are becoming a more and more competitive space by the day, so it is important to us to give our products the fresh new look and feel that they deserve,” said Fry’s international marketing director Tammy Fry.
“We’re excited to be taking one more step towards more sustainable packaging with the removal of plastics where we can, with lots more developments to come across this year,” she added.
“This new brand look and feel gives us great motivation to continue our commitment to creating the best tasting, best looking, most innovative, ethical, and plant-based meat alternatives for our customers.”
The revamp comes ahead of a major investment in both above the line and below the line marketing for the brand in 2021, in a bid “to reach a wider audience of meat reducers and flexitarians”, Fry’s said.
It follows a major round of acquisitions by the Livekindly Collective since it launched in March 2020, including the purchase of the Fry’s brand from its founding family, alongside Swedish brand Oumph and UK retailer Iceland’s No Meat frozen vegan brand in January.
Livekindly also raised $335m (£242.5m) in its most recent funding round last month, as part of an aggressive expansion plan designed to make it the fastest-growing plant-based food company in the world.
