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Fry Group Foods

Fry Group Foods is a manufacturer of vegan meat substitutes founded by South Africans Wally and Debbie Fry in 1991.[1][2] In 2020 it was acquired by LiveKindly, a plant-based food company.[3]

History

Wally Fry is a vegan convert who once ate meat and traded livestock for a living.[1] He decided to follow the example of his vegetarian wife Debbie and daughter Tammy after observing the inhumane conditions in a working pig farming facility built by his own construction firm. The couple created meat substitutes in their Durban home for personal consumption to help Wally adapt to his new meat-free diet.[1][4] Due to growing demand from others, they eventually registered a company to manufacture meat substitutes on a commercial scale in 1991. As public demand for vegan food in South Africa was marginal at the time, the company had to innovate as a manufacturer in a new market.[1][5][4] Since inception, the company has also advocated for a plant-based diet via public awareness campaigns including Meat-Free Monday and Veganuary.[5]

Locations

In 1998 the company began exporting its meat substitutes from South Africa to Australia, where its headquarters have been based since 2014.[1] As of 2018 its frozen food products, which are manufactured in a custom-built factory in Durban and by a contractor in Cornwall, are sold by supermarket chains and other retailers in over 30 countries.[1][6][5] In 2020 the brand became part of the stable of plant-based food brands under LIVEKINDLY Collective - opening up its export market potential. Currently its biggest markets are South Africa, UK and Australia.

Products

The product range initially consisted of only a handful of basics including sausages, hot dogs, and burger patties.[1][4] As of 2023 it has expanded to include more than 40 products —including schnitzels, sausage rolls, chicken-style nuggets, stir-fry strips, pea protein mince, plant-based popcorn (chick'n style), polony and more—which are made without any meat, egg, or dairy ingredients.[1][6][2] The unpatented plant-based meat substitutes are made from legumes, grains, natural flavourings, and spices, and do not contain any genetically modified ingredients.[7][8]

Reception

Endorsements

  • Vegetarian Society Approved[9]

Awards

Fry Group Foods has won numerous awards for its products. It received the 2010 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award (Emerging category) from the Ernst & Young South Africa chapter,[5][7] the 2013 Green Lifestyle Award for Food (Company),[10] the 2016 Food Bev SETA Gold Award (Medium Companies category),[11] and the 2017 Anuga Taste Innovation Award for Soy and Flaxseed Schnitzel.[6][4] It was the recipient of the VegfestUK Award for Best Vegan "Meat" in 2017,[4] 2018,[12][13]

See also

  • List of meat substitutes

External links

References

  1. Katrina Fox. Meet The Former Livestock Agent Who Started An International Vegan Food Business Forbes, 20 June 2018, retrieved 25 January 2020^
  2. Fry Group Foods cooks up a storm as it takes firm's vegetarian nutrition to India IOL, 7 July 2010, retrieved 25 January 2020^
  3. Megan Poinski. Why food titans invested $200M to form plant-based platform LiveKindly Food Dive, 2020-03-11, retrieved 2025-03-15^
  4. Principles before profit drives vegetarian meat alternatives brand South African Food Review, 4 January 2018, retrieved 27 January 2020^
  5. Fry's flies high with Entrepreneur Award bizcommunity.com, 25 November 2010, retrieved 29 January 2020^
  6. Fry′s Family Foods: ′Making Vegan Food that is Good for People, Animals and Planet′ vegconomist, 14 September 2018, retrieved 27 January 2020^
  7. Barrie Terblanche. Fry me to the moon Mail & Guardian Online, 21 February 2011, retrieved 27 January 2020^
  8. #MeatFreeMondays with Fry Family Food Co. Just A Mamma, 21 January 2019, retrieved 29 January 2020^
  9. Fry's Family Foods ( Fry Group Foods Pty Ltd ) Vegetarian Society, retrieved 29 January 2020^
  10. The 2013 Green Lifestyle Awards Green Lifestyle Magazine, 12 December 2013, retrieved 27 January 2020^
  11. Fry's Family Foods wins top SETA Award bizcommunity.com, 14 December 2016, retrieved 29 January 2020^
  12. VegfestUK Awards 2018 – Full Results VegfestUK, 27 October 2018, retrieved 27 January 2020^
  13. 2020 and 2021^