The Vegetarian Butcher Patty NPD

Source: The Vegetarian Butcher

The new patty has been made using soy and has been targeted at this year’s barbecue season

Morrisons has widened its meat-free offer with major listings for The Vegetarian Butcher and This.

Both brands rolled into the retailer last week, accompanying their launches with NPD.

Netherlands-based The Vegetarian Butcher, which was snapped up by Unilever in 2018, has rolled six products into 450 Morrisons stores, including its vegan What the Cluck chicken-style pieces and new Patty On The Back burger.

Promising to rival “the meatiest of burgers”, the soy-based vegan patty (rsp: £3.99/226g) is targeted at barbecue season. It browns and crisps “just like the real deal” says The Vegetarian Butcher – which has embarked on a £4.4m campaign that will include a three-month TV ad push.

It comes after the brand helped Burger King roll out vegan versions of its Chicken Royale and Whopper burgers.

Meanwhile, rival meat-free supplier This has rolled four products into 445 Morrisons stores, taking its overall UK market presence to 3,000 outlets.

The quartet comprises Isn’t chicken-style Dark Soy & Garlic pieces and Sea Salt & Cracked Black Pepper pieces, Isn’t Bacon Rashers and the new Isn’t Bacon Lardons (rsp: £3/120g).

Lardons is one of three new products unveiled this spring by This. It added Isn’t Pork Cocktail Sausages (rsp: £2.75/150g) in April – its first foray into chilled snacks. BBQ-orientated Isn’t Chicken Skewers (rsp: £3.50/320g) will hit Tesco later this month.

“Landing in the big four has been key target for us, and we’re delighted to have achieved it in such a short space of time,” said This co-founder Andy Shovel. “We’re on a mission to get more people eating plant-based and a ramped-up presence in mainstream retailers is a vital part of that journey.”