Another Foods Launches India’s First Plant-Based Food-Service-Ready Chicken

Mumbai-based Another Foods says its new plant-based chicken is made specifically for food service to support the demands across the hospitality and restaurant industries.

Another Foods says it worked with hospitality and food service experts to co-create its new line of plant-based chicken.

“Having our own lab and manufacturing setup, Another Foods is able to create products specifically required by our partners,” Sharvil Desai, Founder, Another Foods, said in a statement. “We’ve started with three SKUs including plant-based chicken mince, chicken burger patty, and chicken chunks.”

‘Just like chicken’

Desai says the new products taste “just like chicken” and are texturally identical to conventional meat. But Desai says the new items are non-flavored, which offers chefs the versatility to cook these products in different ways for different cuisines. “We want restaurants and hotels to think of us as their raw chicken supplier — just like a Godrej or a Venky’s — the only difference being that our products are plant-based.”

The launch has earned praise from the Good Food Institute India, the think tank organization for the alternative protein industry.

“As category awareness in India grows, food service offers the opportunity for curious and conscious customers to try plant-based meats at their favorite restaurants,” said Nicole Rocque, Senior Innovation Specialist, GFI India.

Awareness is growing across the country, with India’s smart protein sector on track to reach $4.2 billion by 2030, according to projections from GFI India and Deloitte India. There are currently more than 50 startups in the alternative protein space in the country with more than 80 companies in total supporting the category growth.

‘More inclusive dining’

As India’s population boom is expected to continue, Rocque says adding plant-based dishes to the menu “can help hotels, restaurants, and cafes attract new consumers, offer more inclusive group dining options, and appeal to younger demographics.” She says startups like Another Foods entering the plant-based market “gives back culinary creativity to chefs,” especially with its tailor-made product and marketing solutions for restaurants. “This model has great potential to scale as it leaves room for versatility, experimentation, and ultimately sustaining consumer interest for an extended period of time.”

This month, Mumbaikars will have the opportunity to try Another Foods’ plant-based chicken at the Indigo Deli Colaba and its ghost kitchen, the Indigo Burger Project.

“I have been interacting with [Desai] and Another Foods for quite some time now,” Anurag Katriar, Founder, Indigo Hospitality and former President, National Restaurants Association of India, said. “My first meeting with him was over product trials and I remember offering blunt feedback about the necessity to work on the product further, before its commercial launch. To my pleasant surprise, instead of being defensive, Sharvil took my feedback on board positively and came back a few months later with a superior, improved product line! This incident speaks volumes about the culture of Another Foods and its promoters – they are chasing excellence, and that will surely hold them in good stead in the long run.”

Desai says Another Foods’ team of scientists and chefs combine art and science to best serve its customers. “One of the biggest hurdles stopping people from being more sustainable is the notion that sustainability comes through compromises,” Desai said. “I wanted to create something that gives people what they want, without making them think they are compromising.”