Believe in Tempeh, Not Chicken: Better Nature Takes on KFC As Brits Seek New Protein Options

UK startup Better Nature has kicked off a Believe in Tempeh marketing drive, spoofing a KFC campaign to appeal to Brits who are bored of chicken and want more options.

Better Nature is taking on the Colonel.

The London-based tempeh maker has launched a cheeky campaign inspired by KFC’s Believe in Chicken marketing push, asking Brits to believe in its plant-based protein instead.

The startup has long targeted the UK’s $4.9B chicken market, and is taking its battle with poultry up a notch by spoofing one of the food industry’s biggest campaigns.

Better Nature has unveiled a new mascot, Fred the Fox, to help turn the spotlight from chicken to tempeh, just as research shows how the UK’s fibre-deficient consumers are tiring of poultry and on the hunt for different protein options.

Better Nature wants to play, not compete, with chicken

Elin Roberts, co-founder and CEO of Better Nature, hinted at the campaign in a LinkedIn post a couple of weeks ago, taking a dig at KFC’s Follow Your Gut tagline to point out the importance of dietary fibre for gut health.

“Fried chicken contains none,” she said. “So yes, follow your gut. Genuinely good advice. But just make sure you do it properly! Better Nature is naturally high in fibre, made from three ingredients, and soaks up flavour like nothing else we’ve tested.”

Its new stunt uses two billboards in London that pair a paw with a piece of tempeh, a playful swipe at KFC’s campaign imagery, suggesting that people don’t need to give up chicken or make a dramatic lifestyle change; instead, just “give it a well-earned night off” on a Wednesday.

“If everyone in the UK swapped chicken for tempeh for just one night a week, we’d add 457 tonnes of fibre to the nation’s diet every single week,” noted Better Nature co-founder and COO Dr Ando Ahnan-Winarno, who has a PhD in food science.

The launch marks the debut of Fred the Fox, a “chicken-loving brand mascot” developed over several months. It’s designed to give Better Nature a “recognisable character and bring its challenger positioning to life” in a playful, memorable way.

“We’ve spent months working on this campaign, so we knew Fred’s first moment couldn’t be quiet,” said Roberts. “The big chicken companies have put chicken firmly into the cultural conversation. We didn’t want to compete with that. We wanted to play with it. If they can get Britain believing in chicken, we can get Britain thinking about what else could be on their plate.”

She added: “We’re not asking anyone to give up chicken. We’re just saying, why not give it a night off once a week and try something different? Our tempeh soaks up flavour better than any other protein, brings something new to the pan, and gives people a healthier protein option with more good inside when they want to mix things up.”

Brits are bored of chicken – can tempeh fill the gap?

The campaign follows a 1,000-person survey conducted by Attest and Better Nature, which found that more than half of Brits (54%) are bored of chicken. In fact, 35% are open to trying new protein options and 19% are ready to swap out chicken one night a week.

“The research tells us something interesting: with almost one in three (32%) buying chicken on autopilot, it may be the default protein for many shoppers, but that doesn’t mean they are excited by it. More than half of Brits are bored of chicken, which gives us a brilliant opportunity to invite people to try something different,” said Roberts.

Better Nature’s tempeh, which is positioned as a “supercharged protein”, delivers 22g of complete protein per 100g, alongside 6.6g of fibre, and minerals like calcium, iron, and phosphorus. It will speak to the 43% of Brits who increased their protein intake last year. This year, 14% are looking to add more protein to their diets, while 13% want to eat more fibre.

The rise of GLP-1 drugs has contributed to this boom – more than 1.5 million Brits now use a weight-loss medication, a share that nearly doubled between 2024 and 2025. Protein helps maintain muscle mass (which is a concern for this cohort) and dietary fibre can help trigger the body’s natural GLP-1 response and improve gut health.

Documentaries like Netflix’s Hack Your Health, the 30-plants-a-week movement, and online trends such as fibremaxxing and fibrelayering have further increased awareness of the fact that 96% of Brits fall short of the 30g-of-fibre-a-day target.

Better Nature, which raised $1.5M after witnessing record growth last year, has driven the tempeh category’s surge in the UK. In the first half of 2026, unit sales of tempeh saw a 71.5% boost at UK retailers.

“Tempeh is a brilliant swap for chicken as it not only delivers a similar amount of protein, but it’s also full of fibre and (as a fermented protein) it’s packed with gut-friendly goodness too,” Ahnan-Winarno outlined.

“We know that chicken lovers are not prepared to compromise on taste, which is why at Better Nature we’ve spent years refining our tempeh to make it flavour-hungry, which means it soaks up flavour more deeply and evenly to taste of the best things in the pan.”