Vivera continues veggie market

After the sale of the meat company Enkco, Vivera Foodgroup and the remaining business units Vivera, Culifrost and Dutch Tofu Company will enter a meat-free future. The new group focuses entirely on the vegetable market. With the sale of Enkco, investments will be made on a larger scale in the expansion of the production capacity and the development of new products. Vivera Foodgroup believes that the increased focus on the vegetable market will enable it to respond better to the enormous growth opportunities. As a result of the growth of the vegetable activities, a large part of the 100 employees of Enkco will be taken over by Vivera Foodgroup.

Future is plant, exit meat 

Enkco, a specialist in chilled and frozen meat products, was sold at the end of May 2019 to Van Loon Group, a group of meat processing companies. Founded in 1960 as the 'First Dutch Quality Butchers Combination', the brand has more growth prospects under its new owner. In addition, it had long been the wish of Enkco Foodgroup's shareholders and management to focus more on growth opportunities in the vegetable market. 

Culifrost and Dutch Tofu Company are fast-growing companies in the Netherlands and Vivera has a strong market position in large parts of Europe and is one of the three largest players in Europe. 

Substantial growth in the vegetable market in almost all of Europe  

Vivera Foodgroup clearly experiences that consumer interest in healthier and more sustainable food is growing strongly in large parts of Europe. In order to meet the growing market demand, the production capacity of the Holten plant will be significantly increased in the 3rd quarter of 2019. In view of the very positive market demand, Vivera Food Group intends to invest structurally at a higher level in the expansion of production capacity and new products. 

Willem van Weede, CEO of Vivera Food Group: "As one of the first companies in the global meat industry, we are definitely saying goodbye to meat. From now on, we will only focus on vegetable foods. Vegetable food is conquering the world, more and more consumers around the world are discovering that it can be as tasty as real meat and have many advantages. As a result of the sale, we will be able to invest on a larger scale and thus shape Vivera's rapid international growth even further in the coming years." 

Large-scale production of plant products

With a production of more than one million plant products per week, Vivera is one of the three largest producers in Europe. With its product development, Vivera is responding to the growing consumer interest in healthier and more sustainable food. 

With the development of the world's first commercially available vegetable steak in 2018, Vivera reached a milestone in its history. In the United Kingdom alone, more than 1 million pieces have since been sold through the Tesco supermarket chain. In addition, Vivera recently introduced products such as the Meesterburger, Pulled Veggie and Shoarma Kebab to the European market, which are now available from many large retailers, as an extension of its extensive product range.