Tesco-Owned Wicked Kitchen Unveils New Vegan Ready Meals With Beyond Meat

British plant-based food brand Wicked Kitchen has partnered with Californian plant-based meat pioneer Beyond Meat to expand its existing product portfolio with a new vegan ready and frozen meals range across Tesco stores in the United Kingdom.

Through its nationwide partnership with U.K.’s biggest retailer Tesco, Wicked Kitchen has now expanded its range by joining forces with Beyond Meat for the first time.

Its new frozen ready meals include a Peng Panang Tofu Curry, Cowboy Chilli, Korean Inspired Bowl, Naked Burrito, Bangin’ Biryani, and Seriously Sriracha Tofu & Rice priced at £2.75 (approx. US$3.89).

Founded by renowned chefs and brothers Derek and Chad Sarno, the same duo behind Gathered Foods, the food tech responsible for seafood brand Good Catch, Wicked Kitchen first entered the U.K. market in 2018. From cupcakes to pesto to its latest vegan Bakewell slice, the duo mostly uses mushrooms to replicate the meat texture in their range. Wicked has been a hit with consumers from the start: within just 8 months of its debut, the brand, which was awarded ‘Best Vegan Range’ award by PETA, had sold over four million ready meals.

Announcing the news on Instagram, Derek, who is also the director of plant-based innovation at Tesco, wrote: “New launch rolling out this week! Six HOT new meals!! It’s our first to market Wicked Kitchen Frozen meals within frozen and first collab with Beyond Meat. Bringing some much needed heat to the frozen plant-based category across Tesco nation.”

In addition, Wicked Kitchen showcased a new line of ready meal bowls including Sweet Potato & 3 Bean Chilli, Bourguignon, Vegetable Paella, Tuscan Style White Bean Stew, and Jackfruit Dhal & Rice, which the company claims is the first vegan offering in the category. Last year, Wicked announced plans to conquer the U.S. market.

We are proud to be the best-selling chilled plant-based burger at Tesco and look forward to continuing our partnership with one of the UK’s top retailers as we work to satisfy consumers’ growing demand for delicious, nutritious and sustainable plant-based meat across Europe

Chuck Muth, chief growth officer at Beyond Meat

Though Derek confirmed that the new products will be available across the nation, he did not specify which stores specifically.

Chief growth officer at Beyond Meat Chuck Muth said of the partnership: “As consumers are increasingly looking to include plant-based meals in their diet, Tesco’s new ‘ready meals’ featuring Beyond Meat, offer a simple and delicious solution without having to sacrifice on flavour or convenience. We are proud to be the best-selling chilled plant-based burger at Tesco and look forward to continuing our partnership with one of the UK’s top retailers as we work to satisfy consumers’ growing demand for delicious, nutritious and sustainable plant-based meat across Europe.”

Since Wicked Kitchen’s debut back in 2018, Tesco has expanded the brand’s 20-product range to offer over 80 products across all its 3,700 stores. In addition, it made a five-year commitment to provide more plant-based alternatives with hopes to achieve a target of 300% sales increase for the category.

Lead image courtesy of Derek Sarno’s Instagram.