TiNDLE Chicken Launches in the U.K. Following Record-Breaking Series A Raise

Singapore’s Next Gen Foods has announced it is bringing its TiNDLE brand of vegan chicken to the U.K. Starting this month, the plant-based poultry alternative will be available through 11 restaurants and groups, covering 50 locations throughout London with notable hotspots such as as sketch and Aqua Shard.

U.K. distribution follows a record-breaking Series A fundraising round, revealed in February this year. The $100 million payday was the largest single Series A ever in the sector, to date. TiNDLE Is already available in more than 500 restaurants globally, with U.S. launch rolling out after being hotly anticipated. The move into U.K. restaurants represents the second European launch for the vegan chicken brand.

Locations confirmed across the U.K. include BrewDog, City Spice, Get Plucked, Let’s Do Maki, Neyba, Other Side Fried, Paternoster Chop House, Refuel Your Soul, and, Unity Diner.

London calling

TiNDLE launching in the U.K. comes six months after Amsterdam welcomed the brand into its restaurants. The brand’s city debut playbook is clear: choose the most talked about, chef-forward eateries as launch partners. This is exactly what the team has put in place for its rollout in London, which they describe as one of the world’s key foodie cities packed with discerning diners.

“Since the very start, we have known that bringing TiNDLE to London would be a critical milestone for the company. It is not only one of the world’s premier food destinations, but also a global hot spot for innovation,” Andre Menezes, CEO and co-founder of Next Gen Foods said in a statement. “We are thrilled to be working alongside some fantastic restaurant partners and chefs in the UK, who are helping us achieve our goal of bringing delicious – but also sustainable – options to diners.”

Confirmed menu items across the city include coronation chicken sandwiches, curries, chicken Forestiere, and chicken steak burgers.

The TiNDLE recipe for success

Next Gen Foods created TiNDLE specifically with chefs in mind. Designed to be easy to work with, versatile and a faithful recreation of animal protein, it quickly proved popular. Within 18 months of its initial launch in Singapore, it was available throughout the world. Most recently, chef Andrew Zimmern joined as chef and culinary advisor. Now, U.K. chefs now working with the alternative protein are echoing previous positive reviews.

“TiNDLE has been a mind-blowing experience for our chef team at Neyba,” Ben Hedley, co-founder of the restaurant said in a statement. “It is not just the texture but also the fibres within the protein and how quickly it absorbs various marinades, seasonings and sauces. TiNDLE is incredibly versatile and has added a whole new dimension to our plant-based offering. We are thrilled to be one of the first restaurant partners for TiNDLE in the UK.”

To make an event of the London launch, TiNDLE will be hosting a three-day pop-up shop in Soho from April 27. Partnering with Sides, a food brand from YouTube collective The Sidemen, visitors will be able to try sliders finished with various recognisable Sides sauces. 

Vegan chicken with a side of activism

U.K. plant-based chicken success story VFC has recently made the move across the pond to launch in the U.S. It came after a $10.2 million seed raise, specifically initiated to support international distribution. Most recently, the brand, which is led by Matthew Glover and Adam Lyons, took KFC to task over misleading adverts and animal welfare claims. In a series of photographs taken just weeks after images promoted by KFC, a supplier farm was shown to be perpetuating low welfare standards for chickens.

All photos by TiNDLE/Next Gen Foods.