PARTNER CONTENT
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We sit down with Myco CEO David painless, even for the most committed
Wood to explore how the business is carnivore. In the race to Net Zero, changing the UK’ s food market.“ I’ ve such a product is very welcome. The worked in food for over 25 years, from Climate Committee said Brits need to
Nestlé’ s graduate training scheme to eat around‘ two kebabs’ worth of meat’ running small- and mid-sized businesses,” less a week – roughly 25 percent less David begins.“ I joined Myco in 2023 to
– to meet 2050 net-zero goals. But if focus on the emerging trend of plantbased foods. The plant-based category emissions could plummet by up to 1.5
hybrids doubled that reduction, carbon grew significantly but we realized million tons a year. something fundamental: people don’ t“ The world is warming at a rapid want to give up meat. rate, and the sad and scary fact is we“ Historically, eating plant-based foods are facing a race against time for the has focused on abstinence, either not planet’ s survival,” states David.“ Hybrid eating meat at certain times or cutting products allow us to keep eating what it from your diet completely. Plant-based we enjoy while helping give everyone a brands were pitching veganism as the future in the process.” mission, but we wanted to focus instead Indeed, according to independent on feeding the world sustainably. That verification by myemissions. meant working with the meat industry, com, swapping two beef burgers not against it.”
The hybrid idea emerged after months of research into why plant-based sales had stagnated since Covid, and the company spotted a gap.“ Most of the products on the shelf had ingredient lists as long as your arm – 40-plus items, many consumers had never even heard of,” David explains.“ And yet we were talking to an audience that prides itself on being conscious about what goes into their bodies.
“ So, we stripped Hooba back to basics. Every product in the range is now five ingredients plus seasoning. We also knew that even with better recipes, only a small percentage of people were going fully plant-based. Even though up to 30 percent of the UK is actively trying to eat more plant-based products, the process is gradual and we realized something was needed to encourage people to subtly lower their meat consumption. That’ s when our hybrid strategy really came into focus.”
The goal was to create a product that would make swapping out meat
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