Fry Group Foods is a manufacturer of veganmeat substitutes founded by South Africans Wally and Debbie Fry in 1991.[1][4] In 2020 it was acquired by LiveKindly, a plant-based food company.[5]
Wally Fry is a vegan convert who once ate meat and traded livestock for a living.[1][2] He decided to follow the example of his vegetarian wife Debbie and daughter Tammy after observing the inhumane conditions in a working pig farming facility built by his own construction firm. The couple created meat substitutes in their Durban home for personal consumption to help Wally adapt to his new meat-free diet.[1][6] Due to growing demand from others, they eventually registered a company to manufacture meat substitutes on a commercial scale in 1991. As public demand for vegan food in South Africa was marginal at the time, the company had to innovate as a manufacturer in a new market.[1][3][6] Since inception, the company has also advocated for a plant-based diet via public awareness campaigns including Meat-Free Monday and Veganuary.[2][3]
Locations
In 1998 the company began exporting its meat substitutes from South Africa to Australia, where its headquarters have been based since 2014.[1][2]As of 2018[update] its frozen food products, which are manufactured in a custom-built factory in Durban and by a contractor in Cornwall, are sold by supermarket chains and other retailers in over 30 countries.[1][2][3] In 2020 the brand became part of the stable of plant-based food brands under LIVEKINDLY Collective - opening up its export market potential. Currently its biggest markets are South Africa, UK and Australia.
Products
The product range initially consisted of only a handful of basics including sausages, hot dogs, and burger patties.[1][6]As of 2023[update] it has expanded to include more than 40 products —including schnitzels, sausage rolls, chicken-style nuggets, stir-fry strips, pea protein mince, plant-based popcorn (chick'n style), polony and more—which are made without any meat, egg, or dairy ingredients.[1][2][4] The unpatented plant-based meat substitutes are made from legumes, grains, natural flavourings, and spices, and do not contain any genetically modified ingredients.[7][8]
Fry Group Foods has won numerous awards for its products. It received the 2010 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award (Emerging category) from the Ernst & Young South Africa chapter,[3][7] the 2013 Green Lifestyle Award for Food (Company),[10] the 2016 Food Bev SETA Gold Award (Medium Companies category),[11] and the 2017 Anuga Taste Innovation Award for Soy and Flaxseed Schnitzel.[2][6] It was the recipient of the VegfestUK Award for Best Vegan "Meat" in 2017,[6] 2018,[12][13]
1 2 Terblanche, Barrie (21 February 2011). "Fry me to the moon". Mail & Guardian Online. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
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