Our trend feeds are overflowing with news of new vegan products, in no small part to Veganuary, which kicked off last week. The annual challenge has been taken up by a record number of people pledging to only eat plant-based foods this month. Meanwhile, Matthew Glover — Veganuary's co-founder — has launched VFC (Vegan Fried Chick*n), bringing deep-fried chicken taste-alikes to UK consumers interested in ditching animal products.
Glover partnered with chef and restaurateur Adam Lyons to create bites and fillets made of wheat flour. The wheat is turned into high-protein gluten (aka seitan), deep-fried and delivered frozen. The company's main aim is to spare the lives of chickens, and it calculates that one chicken is saved for every 1.5 kg of vegan fried 'chicken' sold, if the plant-based product is purchased to replace actual chicken meat.
The brand's products are currently only sold online, but VFC states 'We'll be on the high street before you know it.' The angle we find most interesting is VFC's mission to achieve price parity with slaughtered chicken. Currently, products made of industrially farmed meat are often cheaper than plant-based alternatives; closing that price gap will no doubt increase widespread uptake of vegan eats.
