Heura Just Launched Vegan Chicken Nuggets. Approved By Children, For Children.

Alternative meat brand Heura has launched plant-based chicken nuggets. The company decided to blind test their new product with the target audience – children. This is in line with its goal to save over 1.1 million lives of chickens by the end of 2021.

Lack of healthy food intake

According to a 2008 study by the National Library of Medicine, 18% to 33% of infants and toddlers had not consumed any vegetables throughout the day. To address this and promote plant-based eating among children, Barcelona-based Heura unveiled healthy meatless nuggets.

The company’s new nuggets have the shortest ingredient list, 40% less compared to its plant-based rivals and existing chicken nugget brands. In an effort to make it healthy, the nuggets have 44% less saturated fat than traditional chicken. In addition, they are gluten-free, high in fiber, protein, and vitamin B12.

Read: Junk Food Makes Up Nearly 20% Calories Consumed By U.S. Children, Study Finds

Children-approved

To ensure that their nuggets are liked by children, Heura conducted a blind test where children were asked to taste the nuggets without knowing they were meatless. Several of the participating children liked the plant-based nuggets and were open to trying them on a regular basis.

“As a mission driven company, we understand that our actions today directly impact generations to come, so kid-friendly Nuggets were a natural next-step for Heura´s portfolio of chicken products,” co-founder and CEO Marc Coloma of Heura, said in a statement. “The fact is, although they’re often geared towards kids, the original chicken nuggets weren’t created with the health of children in mind. They were created to (they say)”save” the poultry industry. Not only are we offering a healthy food solution for children, we are creating a more sustainable world for them.”

Not only are we offering a healthy food solution for children, we are creating a more sustainable world for them

Marc Coloma, co-founder and CEO, Heura

Save 1.1 million lives of chickens

Growing at an increasing speed in Europe, the company plans to save over 1.1 million lives of chickens through its products by the end of 2021.

Its new nuggets are available throughout Spain at Carrefour Hypermarkets, Caprabo, Uvesco, and several others. Restaurants like Chickoa, Madmad Vegan, Green & Berry, and Juicy Avenue have included these nuggets in their menus expanding their plant-based offerings. The nuggets will globally rollout in Q4 2021.

Apart from this, the food-tech secured €16 million (US$19 million) in funding and its crowdfunding campaign bagged €4 million (US$4.8 million) in just 24 hours. In 2020 alone, the brand closed the year with a turnover of €8 million, which is thrice of what it closed the year before. The capital raised will go towards helping Heura to launch vegan pork as well as expand to the U.K. using this market to also reach U.S. diners.

Lead image courtesy of Heura.