The World’s Biggest Meat Alternative Production Facility Opens
The world’s biggest meat alternative production facility has been officially opened by Quorn Foods at its Belasis site in Billingham, in the North East of England. The factory expansion of 9,500 sq m will double production capacity of Quorn’s core products, adding approximately 20,000 tonnes per annum. It is part of a £150 million investment by Quorn Foods, reflecting an increase in flexitarian and vegan diets, and the fact that the UK is the most advanced meat-free market in the world1.
The state-of-the-art production facility will produce 1.33 million packs of Quorn products per week, equivalent to the meat produced by 1,600 cows2. The efficiency improvements the expansion will deliver will help Quorn Foods continue to reduce its carbon emissions per tonne of food produced, already down by 35% since 2012.
Kevin Brennan, chief executive of Quorn Foods, says: “We are the world leader in meat alternatives and have seen our business grow by 16% in the last year. We see decades of growth ahead of us as consumers respond to growing environmental concerns around meat production. We provide dramatic sustainability benefits compared to meat and with this new facility will enhance those benefits further. Sustainability is at the heart of our organisation and we are committed to ensuring we are being responsible with the carbon footprint of our business.”
The move closely follows Quorn Foods’ elimination of 297 tonnes of non-recyclable plastic from its supply chain and the pledge to achieve 100% recyclable, reusable or compostable packaging by 2025. With scientists predicting a climate change point-of-no-return as early as 2035, flexitarian and meat-free diets have an important role to play. The green-house gas emissions from a bag of Quorn Mince are 90% lower than beef mince.
The factory expansion builds on Quorn Foods’ strongest ever year of growth, a £7 million investment in a Global Innovation Centre at its Stokesley headquarters, and sees the company stay on track to become a billion-dollar business by 2027.
1 Consumption per capita MAT to June/July 2018 2 A cow will provide around 225-250 kg of meat for sale (roughly half its body mass) iGrow – Rosie Nold Animal Science Assistant Department Head & Associate Professor.
