Vegan Brand Squeaky Bean Announced As Plant-Based Food Manufacturer of the Year

Vegan brand Squeaky Bean, has been announced as Plant-Based Food Manufacturer of the Year at the Food Manufacture Excellence Awards 2021, under its parent company Winterbotham Darby.

The Food Manufacture Excellence Awards highlight category leaders and trendsetters for their benefit and the benefit of their customers. Across 13 categories, entries must demonstrate significant achievement in their category in at least three of the following areas: customer relationship building, quality assurance, environment and efficiency, skills development, and training and business development.

The win charts a huge journey for Squeaky Bean in developing a range of Ready To Eat (RTE) plant-based chicken pieces in just 13 months. The project started as an idea that was developed on-site in a small pilot plant to trial ingredients, processes and flavours.

Judges who selected Winterbotham Darby as the category winner commented that Squeaky Bean’s achievements are a great example of a company switching to a new product category in response to consumer demands. They said the company has demonstrated a clear commitment to innovation, building customer relationships and producing a quality product, with an impressive pace of roll-out from a standing start and a good example of NPD bringing vegan chicken alternatives to mainstream markets.

Tom Faulkner, Head of Plant-Based at Winterbotham Darby commented: “This is truly a fantastic team achievement, of which I am incredibly proud. The project team undertook an enormous challenge and were set a tough deadline to deliver. Once again, our passionate, committed, innovative and enthusiastic team achieved all that we set out to do – with positive feedback from customers and consumers alike for the finished product. To win this award further endorses all that hard work and to be recognised independently is a fantastic boost for the team.

“The innovation from the Squeaky Bean team continues and we're really excited for our upcoming launches this Spring and Summer that will again deliver craveable food for consumers looking to escape plant-based norms.”