Shicken kick starts 2023 with major expansion
SHICKEN Tikka Masala, Korma, and Meat-Free Tikka Kebabs
SHICKEN Foods, the plant-based ready meal brand, is on track to achieve 10 times its current growth in 2023 after securing a major supermarket listing spanning 471 stores nationwide.
Three chilled vegan-friendly meals; SHICKEN Tikka Masala (350g), SHICKEN Korma (350g) and SHICKEN Tikka Kebabs (240g/£3.80 RRP) will launch in store in early January.
The pioneering start-up was launched by husband-and-wife team, Satvinder and Parm Bains, initially as a direct-to-consumer brand during the 2020 global pandemic as the couple sought to turn their business dream for plant-based Asian cuisine, into a reality.
Satvinder Bains, the former founder of an Indian wedding catering company, develops unique recipes based on traditional home cooked meals passed down through generations in her family, using SHICKEN’s signature chargrilled plant-based pieces, which closely replicate the taste and texture of chicken.
A convenient, plant-based meal solution, SHICKEN’s recipes focus on natural ingredients that are non-GM with authentic herbs and spices for maximum flavour. Its packaging is compostable and recyclable.
Following support and £2m in funding from VegCapital, owned by Matthew Glover who also founded the global Veganuary phenomenon, SHICKEN has experienced rapid expansion.
In its first year of trading, SHICKEN landed its frozen Tikka Kebabs into 29 UK Costco stores and two international stores located in Iceland and France and has also started exporting their range to three of the largest grocery retailers in Iceland (Hagkaup, Kronan & Netto). Export is a key part of the company’s success, accounting for 20% of overall sales and set to grow to 40% in 2023.
To support its future growth, SHICKEN Foods has invested £1m into a new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Kent which will see it scale up its outputs 20-fold.
Satvinder Bains, co-founder of SHICKEN Foods, said: “When we first launched SHICKEN at home during the pandemic, we knew we had created something special with a unique point of difference in the category. We poured our passion for restaurant-quality and authentic Asian flavours into our brand and have been delighted with the feedback from retailers and consumers.
“These are dishes I would prepare for my family at home and it’s incredible to now be sharing this with many other families across the globe as more people look to reduce their impact on the planet. Our new manufacturing site is helping to open up a wealth of opportunities to us as we scale up our operations – the sky’s the limit”.
