What is JBS’ Vegetarian Butcher Collective? Key summary
- JBS launches The Vegetarian Butcher Collective for European plant-based brands
- Vivera was acquired in 2021 for €431 million by meat giant JBS
- Unilever sold The Vegetarian Butcher to JBS earlier this year
- JBS aims to lead Europe’s plant-based market with combined brand power
- Vivera expands into non-meat formats like tofu and protein bites
A new plant-based company is hitting the market today, and it comes from the biggest name in meat: JBS.
Launched as The Vegetarian Butcher Collective, the new company has been set up to represent JBS’ plant-based product brands in Europe, including The Vegetarian Butcher and Vivera.
Plant-based shake-up at JBS
JBS bought Vivera back in 2021 in a deal that valued the plant-based food group at €431m. The business sells its vegan lines into major European markets including the UK, Germany and the Netherlands.
The acquisition of The Vegetarian Butcher was much more recent. Unilever announced it would sell the plant-based alternatives brand to meat major JBS earlier this year.
Now being combined into a new company, the brands make up a “new leader in European plant-based food”, according to The Vegetarian Butcher’s CEO Rutger Rozendaal.
“For me, this feels like the start of a bold new chapter, an opportunity to further accelerate the Food Revolution and release even more animals from the food chain, by bringing tasty and nutritious products to consumers,” he says on social media.
The CEO stresses the two brands will retain their “unique voice” and “brand mission”.
The future of plant-based looks bright - and different
Precise details on how the new structure will impact The Vegetarian Butcher and Vivera have yet to be revealed, but it’s a sign that JBS is investing in – and doubling down on – plant-based.
After an early-2020s peak, the plant-based category has struggled in recent years, hit by consumer concerns around quality, health and price. But analysts are expecting the market to rebound. Future Market Insights, for one, is predicting the market to triple by 2035.
Plant-based’s future may look very different from the meat mimicry seen on shelves. Already, plant-based meat companies are expanding into products that don’t look or taste like meat at all. Even plant-based meat pioneer Beyond Meat is dropping ‘meat’ from its name.
That trend’s already infiltrating into Vivera. The brand is continuing to sell its plant-based Shawarma Kebab and Plant Steak products, but is now expanding its line to include ‘Garden Greens Protein Bites’ and ‘Quick Marinating Tofu’.
Whether The Vegetarian Butcher will evolve its offering remains to be seen – but the plant-based landscape is clearly shifting.