Quorn Foods opens Global Innovation Centre in UK

UK-based Quorn Foods is set to open a new Global Innovation Centre at its headquarters in the North East, which is expected to improve the company’s core protein fermentation capabilities.

The £7m investment forms part of the company’s ongoing strategy to further enhance its technological abilities in the meat-free industry.

Quorn Foods intends to break ground on its new facility later this year.

Quorn Foods chief executive Kevin Brennan said: “With category momentum, we are confident we can become a $1bn business in under ten years.

“We are seeing lots of Silicon Valley investment and hype in this space, but we have already built up 30 years of expertise in the meat-free category.

“With our renewed investment in research and development (R&D), we expect to lead the way for decades to come.

“We are already seeing amazing growth internationally: Australian sales are up 50% and US sales are up 23%.”

The company previously created more than 100 jobs last year as part of its expansion initiative and expects to continue job creation, particularly in the area of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

Quorn Foods’ like-for-like sales totaled £112m during the first half of this year, representing a 12% increase compared to the same period last year.

The increase builds on the company’s strongest ever year of growth in 2017.

The demand for meat alternatives is reported to have increased worldwide as a result of consumers becoming more concerned about their health, as well as various environmental issues associated with excessive meat consumption.