Yorkshire startups vie for a slice of the meat and dairy substitute pie
When Castleton Mill in Leeds opened almost 200 years ago it housed steam-powered flax spinning machines. These days the former textile mill is part of another Industrial Revolution – the shift to plant-based food.
The renovated mill, now a pet-friendly co-working space with a private bar, is home to alt-milk brand Mighty, one of the growing number of plant-based food companies based in Yorkshire.
Tom Watkins, who co-founded Mighty with his brother Nick, says the county is fast becoming the Silicon Valley of plant-based food. “There are some absolutely fantastic companies and brands coming out of this area,” says the hoodie-wearing entrepreneur from across the company’s board table in what used to be the mill’s furnace.
“We’re a family business and never entertained the notion of being anywhere else,” adds Nick. “We love it here and the people we have access to are incredible.”
The list of plant-based companies in Yorkshire includes established names like Quorn as well as new ones like Meatless Farm, Plant and Bean, Over the Spoon and VFC. There is another crop coming up behind them, with almost 20 alt-food brands established in Yorkshire in the past year alone, according to Companies House data.
Thijs Geijer, an economist atING Research, says these emerging clusters are a “bit of a trend”. “In the US there’s the Protein Highway in the Midwest and in the Netherlands there’s Vegan Valley in the eastern part of the country.”
The prize is a big one for the entrepreneurs who get it right. After a rapid growth spurt during the pandemic UK retail sales of alt-meat and dairy products are now more than £1bn a year.
The demand for alt-meat and dairy products has been fuelled by consumer interest in health, animal welfare and
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