You don't have to look far to find statistics that show an increasing percentage of the UK population have either adopted a plant-based diet or are looking for ways to cut down their intake of meat.
In December last year, statistics from a YouGov survey commissioned by global charity Veganuary found that 8% of respondents were already eating a plant-based diet, while 36% of UK adults think eating a vegan or plant-based diet is "an admirable thing to do".
That's great news for operators like Neat Burger, the vegan burger restaurant chain which is part of the London-based hospitality business the Cream Group, backed by Formula 1 star Lewis Hamilton.The news that a funding round in October last year valued the company at £51m demonstrates that there is plenty of confidence from the business community in the plant-based burger concept too. But with McDonald's still serving about 3.5m customers every day, Neat Burger faces challenges in persuading customers to switch from their familiar meaty favourites.
Zack Bishti, who co-founded Neat Burger with brother Ryan in 2019, identifies price point as a key challenge for the company. Although the cheeseburger, currently £5.99, was offered at £1.99 for the month of November last year to coincide with World Vegan Day, the lowest priced burger on Neat's menu is the hamburger at £4.99 compared, for example, to McDonald's 89p burger (McDonald's Vegetarian Society ‘Vegan Approved' McPlant burger, launched in January, costs £3.49).
"I think because it's a new space there really needs to be some development in the infrastructure. We've moved a lot of our manufacturing in-house, and we own 75% of our supply chain now. At launch we started with Beyond Burger and at the time they were getting manufactured in North America; it's expensive. You couldn't price vegan burgers the same way meat burgers were because it's just a far cheaper protein to get, but as the investment has been flowing into this space, the infrastructure improves."
Flavour is another key focus for Bishti, who has recently bought in a new product development chef and food scientist to work on the menu. A tasting at the Neat Burger in Princes Street in London was impressive, with pea protein-based burgers and hot dogs, plant-based cheese and mayonnaise, gluten-free buns and a jackfruit ‘Filet-no-fish' burger delivering all the bold and bright flavours typically associated with fast food.
"People will not make the change unless you hand it to them on a plate. There needs to be an easy switch with no compromise on taste and flavour. We do tastings every two weeks and things are just getting better and better, not just with the flavour profile, but the texture. I get excited about what we'll be able to offer in the next year, two years, three years, because for us the product is the focus."
But Bishti has also given serious thought to how the brand is presented. From the eye-catching candy pink and emerald green plant-based, biodegradable burger boxes to the in-store Instagramable photo opportunities (the Camden branch has an old-fashioned, pink-coloured rotary dial pay phone with a neon speech bubble above it that says ‘I Plant Live Without You') Neat Burger presents a vibrant alternative to the more established fast-food brands. It's also notable that, although the menu is completely vegan, the word doesn't appear anywhere on the website or menu itself, instead emphasising the message ‘100% plant based – planet friendly'.
"Coming out saying we're a vegan brand for vegans only really limits us. People put up a barrier. I remember what it was like not being open to the idea of veganism and I think people just want it to be a smooth transition," says Bishti, who claims that you'll see "activists next to accountants" dining in the restaurants. "On the engagement we've done, I would venture to guess 75% of our customers eat meat as part of their diet still. They're all trying to phase it out or eat less meat and we're just part of that story."
While Neat Burger is keen to play to their customer's desire to make ethical and sustainable choices about their diets with initiatives, such as planting a tree for every burger sold (Bishti says they were due to pass the one million tree mark by the end of last year) and removing a pound of plastic waste from the ocean and coastline for every Filet-no-Fish burger sold during a week-long promotion last June, Bishti recognises there is a fine line to be trod.
"You don't really want to be virtue signalling, but initiatives like that are the kind of things that we will keep ingrained to offset the inevitable part of growth. I like to think that Neat Burger scaling up means that more people are going to be eating plant-based foods. We're going to make the products more accessible and therefore we're going to ultimately have a net positive impact."
Growing the brand
As reported by The Caterer in October last year, the six-strong Neat Burger group has announced ambitious expansion plans following the dramatic £20m increase on the company's valuation last year. New sites have already been announced for Canary Wharf, Bishopsgate, King's Road and Ealing with a target to increase to 19 restaurants and 16 delivery kitchens in London by the end of this year, with regional sites that may include Brighton and Manchester also planned for 2022. International expansion will include sites in the US, UAE and Italy.
"We want Neat Burger to be the plant-based version of Shake Shack or In-N-Out Burger. We want to offer an accessible, premium burger for the plant-based world," says Bishti. "We've shaped how we see our model, particularly post pandemic, and how we see scale quickly. We're taking a hybrid approach. Some brands just do delivery only, but I don't think that's the right approach. I think there's a lot to be said for the physical thing; people like to know the brand exists.
"For the stores, our sweet spot is 1,500 sq ft feet. They're easy to fill and when they're not so busy there still feels like there's some atmosphere and you don't pay crazy rents. Unless you're one of the heavyweight brands, gone are the days where you take these huge 3,000-4,000 sq ft spaces, because you just don't need to do that.
"The delivery points are really low Capex, a great way to test new markets and our product travels well. I like the idea of having one central store in key metropolitan areas and then clustering delivery points around it in concentric circles."
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