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BRAND PROFILE QUICK SUCCESS FOR ‘VERSION TWO’ OF MEAT It may only be early days for v2food, but the Australian start-up has already made a significant impact on the plant-based meat category. There’s more to come, too. FBy Nicholas Rider. ounded in January 2019, v2food was born from a partnership between CSIRO and Main Sequence Ventures, backed by Hungry Jack’s owner Jack Cowin. According to v2food Chief Growth Officer Andrew May, the company was founded to address the unsustainable demand for animal meat posed by the rapidly increasing global population. “In 2050, world population is predicted to hit 10 billion people,” he said. “It would take an extra planet’s worth of resources to feed this population with animal meat alone. We need to create a version two of meat if we’re going to sustainably feed our growing population in a way that takes care of our planet. “Consumers are looking for ways to reduce their impact on the planet, and one of the simplest ways is to change what we eat. In 2019, more than 49 per cent of \\\\\\\[surveyed\\\\\\\] Australian consumers \\\\\\\[were\\\\\\\] actively looking to reduce their meat consumption. And, according to Food Frontier, six out of 10 Australians have tried or are interested in trying plant-based meat products. 24 RETAIL WORLD JAN/FEB, 2021