To enable consumers enjoy the same taste, texture and feel of meat minus the animal, Blue Tribe Foods started operations as a plant-based meat company in 2021. The company focusses on creating products exactly like their meat counterparts without cruelty, cholesterol and harm to the planet. For the last one year, Blue Tribe Foods has been serving the hospitality sector and plans to continue doing it due to the immense potential the sector has, both from a category awareness standpoint as well as from a business standpoint. “Our goal is to be present in each and every hospitality based business from hotels, cafes, restaurants, airport lounges, airlines, school canteens, corporate caterers, wedding caterers, cloud kitchens and every other business that deals in food,” says Sohil Wazir, COO, Blue Tribe Foods.
Solutions for the hospitality sector
“All of our products are designed to taste, look and cook exactly like meat so our customers can cook whatever the same meat dishes they are used to making but without animal meat. Having said that, our plant-based chicken keema is the most popular product in the hospitality sector due to its versatility. It is used by some of the most prominent hotel and restaurant chains to make burger patties, lasagnas, pastas, pizzas, keema pav, meatballs etc. We have a complete vertical which works closely with chefs in the HORECA sector to co-develop recipes and (sometimes) products to cater to their needs,” informs Wazir.
New offerings
In the coming months, Blue Tribe Foods will launch plant-based pork pepperoni, plant-based salamis, chicken chunks and mutton chunks. “These products are great for the hospitality sector and serve as the best alternative to otherwise meaty dishes. The pepperoni would be great for gourmet sandwiches and pizzas while the salamis would go well as cold cuts on breakfast buffets at hotels along with cheese, bread and crackers. The chunks (chicken and mutton) are very versatile in nature, they can be used to make biryanis, tikkas, rogan josh, curry dishes as well as oriental gravies,” he shares.
Different from competition
Plant-based meat by definition is to be present the same spaces that meat is otherwise being served as it meant for non-vegetarians who like the taste of meat but understand its impact on the planet. “Hence, we focus on retail as well as HORECA in terms of presence and in fact, for co-development in this segment. If we don’t create products for hotels and restaurants, increasing the adoption and acceptance of plant-based meat is going to be a hard task. We have tied-up with various restaurants and hotels to launch separate plant-based meat menus in collaboration. Most restaurants are seeing the demand pick up and they understand the importance of collaborating with a well-known brand like ours. Ultimately, people have to feel confident that when they go out they can enjoy a nutritious and tasty plant-based meal with no guilt which will only happen if we support hospitality businesses in every way possible,” puts in Wazir.