Paris-based La Vie, one of Europe’s fastest-growing plant-based brands, has expanded beyond meat alternatives with a line of tofu products.
The era of plant-based meat brands entering the whole-food category is still thriving, with France’s La Vie the latest to hop on the bandwagon.
The Parisian startup, which first made its name with vegan bacon and wacky marketing, is now one of the leading plant-based meat companies in Europe, growing faster than most competitors.
To accelerate its progress even further, La Vie is leaning into the demand for less processed, cleaner-label protein options in Europe with the launch of three tofu products, days after it ran an April Fools’ campaign teasing a fictional move to change add more green to its pink packaging.
“At La Vie, we see tofu as a massive white space: a product with incredible potential, but that hasn’t yet been made desirable for mainstream consumers. Our role is to change that by bringing back what really drives food choices: taste, simplicity and pleasure,” co-founder and CEO Nicolas Schweitzer tells Green Queen.
“We believe it’s still the very beginning of the tofu market in Europe, especially in France. Today, tofu is largely misunderstood, with 95% of French people perceiving it as bland or boring. For us, that’s exactly where the opportunity lies,” he adds.
La Vie targets Europe’s clean-label demand
Staying true to its flavour-first approach, none of La Vie’s tofu products is unflavoured. À Cuisiner is a tofu block smoked over beechwood and seasoned with soy sauce, which the company hopes will change people’s minds about the ingredient. It contains 17g of protein per 100g and can be used in salads, bowls, pasta and more.
The smoked tofu also appears in the À Poèler product, comprising teriyaki-glazed cubes ideal for Asian dishes and featuring 15g of protein per 100g serving.
Finally, La Vie has launched “ultra-crispy” tofu nuggets coated with corn flakes to give French consumers a new take on a familiar format. These contain 13g of protein per 100g and can be prepared in the air fryer, with La Vie positioning them as a vegan base for “Hot Ones-style challenges”.
All the tofu products are preservative-free and made using French soybeans, and La Vie is marketing them as “100% natural” to tap into Europe’s demand for minimally processed foods. Polling shows that 65% of Europeans are concerned about the health impact of ultra-processed foods, with 54% avoiding plant-based meats because they’re ultra-processed.
Meanwhile, half of Europeans prefer a natural or clean-label approach to healthy eating, and two in three reconsider their purchases based on ingredient lists.
La Vie says tofu remains a niche ingredient largely confined to France’s organic sector, and these products aren’t performing well in the country, despite booming in Europe. This is due to a perception of it as bland and difficult to prepare, and to a lack of a standout brand.
“Marketing efforts haven’t been thorough enough in this market. The tofu nuggets, for example, will allow people to discover this protein in a delicious form, suitable for snacking, appetisers, or quick meals,” says Romain Jolivet, La Vie’s marketing director.
La Vie looks to replicate 2025 success with 50% revenue growth
The tofu launches come weeks after the French government updated its dietary guidelines to recommend limiting meat and increasing plant-based protein consumption.
France has already invested €11.7M in 10 projects to expand domestic plant protein production, as part of the agriculture ministry’s National Strategy for Plant Proteins. It aligns with the 35% of French residents who rate legumes and pulses among the richest sources of protein and the two-thirds who eat foods like beans, grains, lentils and wheat weekly.
In fact, meat consumption has been steadily declining in France over the last two decades, and one survey revealed that 53% of its citizens have cut back on meat in the last three years alone. At the same time, sales of plant-based food grew by 9% in 2024 to reach €537M, making it the third-largest market for these products in Europe. Chilled meat alternatives recorded a 15.5% growth.
La Vie has played a major role here. “We reached €30M in revenue in 2025, with over 50% year-on-year growth,” reveals Schweitzer. “And we’re planning to sustain that momentum with another +50% growth this year.”
He confirms that the company is in discussions with several major foodservice players to roll out the tofu line: “What we’re seeing is a growing interest from partners who want to expand their plant-based offering beyond meat alternatives, and tofu is becoming a very relevant option for that.”
La Vie is the latest plant-based meat brand to diversify beyond meat mimics in Europe. Over the last year, This has launched its Super Superfood and chickpea tofu lines, Oh So Wholesome has rolled out Veg’chop, Juicy Marbles has introduced its Umami Burger, and Symplicity Foods has brought its fermented-vegetable-based meats to supermarkets.
“We’re seeing a natural evolution of the category. Meat alternatives helped introduce plant-based eating to a wide audience, but consumers are now looking for more diversity and simpler products,” says Schweitzer.
“Whole-food options like tofu open a new entry point: they’re versatile, easy to integrate into everyday cooking, and help break the ‘ultra-processed’ perception barrier. It’s not a shift away from meat alternatives, but an expansion of the plant-based ecosystem.”
This story was updated to clarify that La Vie’s rebrand was an April Fools’ campaign.