European organic vegetarian and vegan food specialist Biolab is aiming to break into the UK market.
The Italian company opened a second factory in its home country in September. “Our biggest challenge in recent years has been producing enough products to meet demand,” Tanya Klancic, Biolab’s commercial and marketing manager, told Natural Products at last month’s Nordic Organic Food Fair.
Biolab has been reporting annual growth of 40-50% as global demand for vegetarian and vegan foods has accelerated. It currently distributes to Greece, France, Spain, the Nertherlands and Cyprus, with Germany its largest export market.
The brand has some limited distribution in the UK but sees a much bigger opportunity in a market where the vegetarian and vegan demographic is already well developed. To that end, the company will be making its Natural & Organic Products Europe debut in 2015.
Growing interest from Japan, Australia and the US has prompted the brand to move recently into frozen.
The company has strong green credentials as well as a commitment to sourcing from certified organic farms. Its latest factory has many eco features including a facility that converts wastewater into natural gas. The business also has its own on-site R&D department and prides itself on being an innovation leader. Klancic again: “It’s not easy making great tasting, organic vegetarian and vegan food. We try a lot of things out – it’s taken 23 years of mistakes to get this far!”
Picture: Tanya Klancic with top Swedish chef Anders Ramsay.
