How provocative would or should you be to get attention?

It’s a crowded marketplace and we are used to working in a noisy environment. So how do you get attention these days? One company, that personally I rate very highly, is Meatless Farm and they have definitely been raising some eyebrows with their latest marketing campaign that launched yesterday.

How does, ‘Now that’s a M…F… burger!’ grab you?

Is it tasteless (well, certainly the burgers and sausages are anything but!)? Or is it in the eye of the beholder. It’s very clever. There is space for ‘Meat Free’ but our brains filling in more than the missing blanks and hey, we all start talking about Meatless Farm. You can shrug and say it’s funny or you can end up being heckled and criticised like the infamous FCUK campaign. However, it certainly got French Connection noticed. But should be just for the right reasons?

Photo Miika Laaksonen

Is M…F… an issue?

Well, yes, it is, but not because of the text. We need to eat less meat, full stop. Lockdown has impacted dramatically on what consumers want and what they are actually purchasing. Meatless Farm have seen massive growth in consumption, and they are very keen to capitalise on this trend. With the Prime Minister leading the way in trying to shed the flab and tackling the nation’s obesity issues it appears the interest in plant-based alternatives is bang on trend.

We all know that climate change has happened and is continuing

We also know that our hunger for meat is causing profound changes to the ecosystem and resulting in unpleasant effects. Therefore, one might well imagine that anything that prompts the conversation about plant-based ingredients has to be a good thing. Isn’t it time we were a little less prurient? Or is this type of campaign the slippery slope?

Back on the Meatless Farm sales have experienced extraordinary growth

Figures have been demonstrating a 179% rise year on year. We have stopped thinking of plant alternatives as being second class, as a pale substitute. We now see plant foods as a welcome alternative as we battle with health-related issues, animal welfare, climate and environmental issues and food provenance. As we have so many choices it seems that food purchases have never been so complicated. It’s almost refreshing to see a no-nonsense campaign that doesn’t require a degree in nutrition to read the labels.

Will meat-free alternatives save the economy?

We are all watching in horror as brands we have known and loved start to contract. Starbucks, Zara, Next, John Lewis, Uppercrust & Ritazza, Carluccios and others have either collapsed or are shutting outlets faster than you can shout ‘bean burger’. However, we have to acknowledge that Covid 19 has simply accelerated a process that was going to happen anyway. Our tastes and behaviours are changing and maybe in the future, and starting now we will source our food in different ways. Certainly, Meatless Farm is pointing the way with 10% growth and being labelled by Nielsen as the fastest growing UK brand in their specific sector. There is demand and meat alternatives are already predicted to rise to £4.1 billion in 2020. That’s a rise of 1.2bn in just five years.

Can you work in the Meat Free sector?

I am interested to see that Meatless Farm is currently advertising for a Senior Operations Manager and with offices in Leeds, Amsterdam, New York and Singapore they are really making their mark in the plant-based food industry. They have ambitious growth goals and that’s really good to see when so much news is about contraction.

Meatless Farm wants to transform lifestyles

They also want to build a sustainable world. They are looking for people who are passionate about helping them achieve their mission that ultimately should be the mission of everyone living on the planet. That’s a great M---F-- way to fight the glass half empty pessimists. What do you think?