Beyond Meat, Clearspring, Dragonfly, Livekindly (Fry’s, No Meat, Oumph!), Plant Meat (THIS), Taifun, Tofoo/Clearspot, VBites. Still a popular ingredient largely because, unlike most other beans, soya protein is a complete protein containing all the eight essential amino acids that we need. Soya sausages were invented in Germany during the first world war to deal with meat shortages. This award-winning soy-based product was the most similar to meat in flavour, texture and even smell. If you had it in a carbonara, you wouldn't know the difference. Vivera, Fridge Raiders and Richmond are owned by JBS, the world’s largest meat producer, some of whose suppliers have been accused of animal cruelty and which, in the case of JBS USA, had the highest total number of animal welfare violations at its slaughter houses of any meat company in the USA between 2016 and 2018. JBS bought plant based brand Vivera in 2021 and in May 2022 it became the majority shareholder in cultured meat company BioTech. A report in 2023 found that Barclays was the biggest financier of JBS over the last eight years.

But in a recent ‘Politics of Protein’ report, the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES Food) calls fake meat “a silver bullet technology” that may not be as sustainable as advocates claim. It argues that claims about alternative meats focus on greenhouse gas emissions and ignore other aspects of environmental sustainability, in particular biodiversity, with many meat analogues sourcing ingredients from industrial, chemical intensive monoculture systems of soya, palm oil and wheat. (See the table above for which companies use soya and where it’s from and further below for who scores best for palm oil). Made from fava beans, these do not require cooking. They have a strong curry flavour and are very similar to real fridge raiders. The vegetarians liked them as they weren't “challenging”. With so much choice available, how do you know which brand make what vegan and fake meat alternatives? In the table below brands are listed alphabetically and the products are vegan unless otherwise stated. Brand

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Is it that brands think that ‘vegan’ has negative connotations of extremism and holier-than-thou ism? Veganism definitely denotes a more holistic or hard-line philosophy of avoiding all animal products, including clothing and non-cruelty-free cosmetics, for example. Plant-based is generally just applied to food. Sources soya from European farmers and states: “we work with plant breeders to create new tofu soybean varieties that are suitable for cultivation in our climes” Soya has long been a staple of Asian and vegetarian/ vegan diets and it is the main ingredient in many of the products rated here. But soya bean cultivation remains linked to deforestation in South America. We look at how sustainable soya-based alternatives are in more detail below. Tempeh

This guide covers ready-made meat alternatives and includes products designed to taste, smell and look like meat (appetisingly called ‘meat analogues’ in the trade). It also covers products like tofu, falafel and vegetable fingers which can be used as meat replacements, but in general are not marketed as being analogous to meat. This company is an interesting example of a vegan company owned by an investment firm. It looks more like an investment vehicle for those wanting to cash in on the new vegan market than a company fit for the challenge of fixing a broken food system. This is one of the oldest meat replacement brands, which uses a mushroom-based technology invented in the 1960s. These filets tasted more of lemon than sweet chilli and had an unpleasant mushy texture.

We look at vegan brands owned by big meat producers, meat-free ingredients, soya and deforestation, and more. With ethical & environmental rankings of 28 meat alternative brands, and recommended buys. 

Steve: "I half-welcome lab grown meat; I know the facts of climate impact of animal consumption, and plant based meat alternatives are highly processed and have problems of their own." Tofu, or bean curd, is made from coagulated soya milk. It is slightly lower in calories and fat than tempeh. Seitan