From vegconomist.com
Where do traditional German food producers stand in terms of the food transition? More and more established companies are recognizing the potential and the need to include alternative protein sources in their product ranges. Although the plant-based market in Germany and Europe is being driven primarily by milk and meat producers, who have been investing more and more in plant-based alternatives in recent years, only a few of these companies have developed concrete strategies for simultaneously reducing animal proteins.
Instead, the attitude is often taken that the consumer must decide or that a separation must be made between animal and plant-based products without establishing competition. The question arises as to how serious manufacturers really are about the transformation and why many companies are not making sufficient use of their potential. However, there are examples of the success that can be achieved by combining effective strategies with products that are convincing in terms of price and taste.
Plant-based strategies for future-proof business development
Here, we take a look at well-known German food producers who are already setting a good example. These companies have recognized the potential of switching to plant-based protein as part of their CSR strategies and are actively driving change.
They are increasingly relying on plant-based recipes, while at the same time formulating concrete goals for reducing animal ingredients. Additionally, they are committed to developing reduction strategies for CO2-intensive animal ingredients, and are effectively marketing their plant-based ranges and communicating the benefits of plant-based diets.
These companies are not only helping to drive a sustainable food transition in Germany, but are also positioning themselves for the future. Their life cycle assessments illustrate how great the potential for food manufacturers’ sustainability strategies can be by switching to plant-based recipes.
Rügenwalder Mühle: Over 90 percent of the range is now vegan
Rügenwalder Mühle was founded in 1834 as a butcher’s shop in Bad Zwischenahn. Over the years, it developed into a leading company in meat processing, before launching its first vegetarian sausage alternatives in 2014, marking the beginning of a sustainable restructuring.
This was part of a strategic realignment to respond to the increasing demand for meat-free products and to take up the growing trend towards plant-based nutrition. In the following years, an interim goal was set to make 85 percent of recipes vegan; this was achieved in 2022.
Even after reaching this goal, Rügenwalder Mühle has steadily expanded its plant-based product range.
“We have worked continuously to convert our recipes to vegan, so that we now have a share of 91%,” says the company. “In recent years, we have also launched our new plant-based products with a vegan recipe. In order to determine the CO2 savings from switching from vegetarian to vegan, we have carried out a comparative product life cycle assessment using our ham spicker as an example.”
For the first time in the industry, the company compared the environmental impacts of classic, vegetarian, and vegan versions of a product (ham spicker) – from raw material extraction to disposal by consumers. In addition to greenhouse gas emissions, other environmental factors such as water consumption and land use were also determined. The life cycle assessment shows a clear gradation of environmental impacts for all factors, from the classic to the vegetarian and vegan products.
Griesson – de Beukelaer: “On the way to becoming a plant-based company”
The roots of Griesson – de Beukelaer go back a long way; Edouard de Beukelaer began making biscuits in Belgium in 1850 and invented the double biscuit in 1870, while Gottlieb Anton Gries began producing baked goods in Germany in 1892. In 1999, Griesson merged with De Beukelaer to form Griesson – de Beukelaer GmbH & Co. KG.
In 2021, the crispbreads from LEICHT&CROSS were converted to vegan recipes and in 2023 the company’s first purely plant-based product, Cereola, was launched and marketed as vegan. In June 2024, Griesson – de Beukelaer published a sustainability management plan and announced goals for converting products to plant-based recipes.
“Enjoyment is always our top priority,” says the company. “Our enjoyment should also be sustainable and that is why we are working on converting half of our products, measured against total production, to purely plant-based recipes by the end of 2026. Even if the CO2 reduction by replacing egg and milk-containing raw materials in an individual product is small, every ton of CO2 that we save counts towards the total.”
One example of how vegan recipes and innovations can help reduce CO2 emissions is Cereola with ChoViva; by avoiding cocoa and dairy products, the carbon footprint is reduced by 25 percent compared to the milk chocolate version. This calculation includes all emissions that occur over the entire product life cycle, from ingredients to packaging, production, delivery, and disposal.
The introduction of the vegan version of the traditional Prinzenrolle, which has been available since autumn 2024 at the same price as the non-vegan version, underlines the change. The company recently announced that it had reached an important milestone with the conversion of its double biscuit and cookie portfolio to plant-based recipes.
“We deliver what we promise,” says CEO Dany Schmidt. “On our way to becoming a plant-based company, we are working on constantly improving our recipes and focusing on the taste and quality of our products. With the recipe change, we now produce 50 percent of our volume plant-based.”
FRoSTA: “We give up meat, not taste”
FRoSTA was founded in 1961 by Dirk Ahlers in Bremerhaven, and initially established itself as a supplier of frozen fish. Over the years, the company expanded its product range to include frozen ready meals, vegetables, and fruits.
FRoSTA took its first steps in veggie product development in 2012, launching vegetarian frozen ready meals. At that time, the company presented four vegetarian dishes that were developed in collaboration with the Vegetarian Association of Germany (now ProVeg Germany eV). Since then, FRoSTA has continuously expanded its plant-based range and now offers a variety of vegan frozen products, including for the out-of-home market.
In FRoSTA AG’s 2020 sustainability report, the company set the goal of reducing the total meat content of all products by 20% by 2022. FRoSTA also achieved the highest score in the Four Paws ATLAS Challenge in 2020, and was the first company in the food sector to sign the commitment to reduce meat and fish. Its plant-based product portfolio now includes vegan classic dishes as well as vegan fish classics.
FRoSTA will publish its current and revised targets shortly. The company states: “The measurable reduction of our ecological footprint requires us to further reduce the proportion of animal-based foods in our products, as these have the higher footprint. Our goal is to continuously and measurably reduce the average eco-footprint of all our products from year to year. Overall, the majority of new product launches in recent years have been vegan or vegetarian. In this way, we have continuously reduced the proportion of meat (-38%) and dairy products (-25%) in all ingredients over the last 8 years (2018 – 2024). As we calculate the carbon footprint (PCF) for all products and publish it on our website, we know that products without animal ingredients have a significantly lower PCF than those with animal ingredients.
Katjes: Vegetable pectin reduces CO2 emissions by almost 20 percent
The history of Katjes began in 1910 with a Sicilian licorice recipe. Since then, the company has become one of the three largest players in the German confectionery market. In 2010, Katjes initiated a comprehensive transformation to a completely vegetarian range. Katjes is therefore a clear pioneer among traditional companies in the confectionery industry.
Since September 2016, the company has completely dispensed with animal gelatine, which has contributed to a significant improvement in its ecological balance. In future, all new products will be vegan; this change is part of Katjes’ sustainability strategy. For example, the brand now uses vegetable pectin instead of gelatine.
“A large part of our emissions, around 80%, are caused by the cultivation and processing of the raw materials for our products,” says the company. “The absence of animal gelatine in Katjes fruit gum and liquorice products has a major positive effect on our product-related carbon footprint!
“Making all of our products purely vegetarian and increasingly vegan not only promotes the welfare of animals, but also takes responsibility for the environment: the vegetarian Green Ear Bears, for example, release almost 20% less climate-damaging CO2 than a comparable product with gelatine. This is a major effect that has made us a pioneer in our industry since the changeover in 2016.”
Taste and price parity as the key to plant-based success stories
Ultimately, these transformations can only be successful if they go hand in hand with products that are convincing in terms of both price and taste. Research shows that the price of plant-based alternatives must be at least the same as or cheaper than that of their non-vegan counterparts to ensure broad consumer acceptance. The power of a strong brand could play a decisive role in this.
The success stories presented here are companies and brands that previously gained the trust of consumers with their non-vegan products. This brand power enables companies to successfully manage the transition to plant-based alternatives, because consumers already have a positive association and trust in the brand. In addition to bold decisions and consistent goals, the success of plant-based strategies also depends on the ability of companies to maintain taste and value for money, and take advantage of their product development expertise and established brands.
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