News

After joining the Protein Shift Innovation Field in July, we are happy to share that we became a member of the Foodvalley network. We look forward to connecting and collaborating with fellow members to maximize our impact and present our creative food solutions.

Find out more about Rival Foods and Foodvalley here.

According to EenVandaag Dutch food start-ups and innovations are at the forefront of the protein transition, and Rival Foods is featured as one of the leading companies. Birgit Dekkers explains more about our process and products in the EenVandaag item.

Read the full article on EenVandaag.

Birgit talks about our process and how she wants to impact the world with Rival Foods.
Find the full article on Tech Gelderland.

Birgit Dekkers explains how Rival Foods works on getting everything right in the creation of the next-generation meat analogue products. All sensorial attributes of meat analogue products must match the expectation of the consumer. One of the main hurdles in creating so-called ‘whole-cut products’ is texture, which in animal-derived products consists of long fibres and a juicy bite. Rival Foods is uniquely positioned to recreate this experience with only using plant protein ingredients and Rival Foods unique mild texturization process.

Read the full article here on AgriBusiness magazine.

Today Rival Foods is featured in national newspaper Trouw, in the economy section. The article elaborates on the developments of Rival Foods on creating the next generation of plant-based chicken products.

Here you can find the link to the full article on Blendle.

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Rival Foods, a plant-based gastronomy start-up, and LIVEKINDLY Collective, a collection of heritage and start-up brands on track to become one of the world’s largest plant-based food companies, today announced they will enter into a partnership to create the perfect plant-based chicken, helping consumers make sustainable choices without compromise.

Through this collaboration, Rival Foods and LIVEKINDLY Collective will be able to leverage their complementary knowledge and resources, providing a new model for rapid product innovation.

“The key to persuading consumers to adapt their behavior is creating delicious plant-based options that deliver on taste and texture and can truly replace animal-based products,” said Birgit Dekkers, Co-Founder of Rival Foods. “The fibrous texture of whole-cut meat products is one of its most distinct features, and we are able to replicate that experience, ensuring a sensorial superiority within the plant-based product category.”

Rival Foods has developed and commercialized a production process to transform plant-based ingredients into high-quality textured protein foods with an unparalleled fibrous texture, rich mouthfeel and juiciness, using very few clean-label ingredients.

“Our plant-based food platform is uniquely positioned to scale rapidly and transform the current global food system,” said Kees Kruythoff, CEO and Chairman of LIVEKINDLY Collective. “Through this open innovation model with Rival Foods, we will be able to develop a new generation of innovative, delicious, and nutritious plant-based products that meet the growing global demand for animal-free food.”

LIVEKINDLY Collective is building a robust ecosystem of founder-led plant-based brands under the leadership of global food executives, including Oumph!, The Fry Family Food Co. and LikeMeat, and the company’s media and lifestyle platform, LIVEKINDLY. The company actively collaborates with frontrunners in the plant-based protein industry at all levels of the value chain, from “farm to fork,” supported by a global network of suppliers, distributors, and customers.

About Rival Foods

Rival Foods is a technology start-up founded in 2019 by Birgit Dekkers and Ernst Breel with the mission to enable uncompromised plant-based eating experiences around the world. This is achieved by utilizing new technologies and processes to deliver the world’s first plant-based whole-cuts. Rival Foods is a spin-off company from the Wageningen University & Research in The Netherlands and is technology- and knowledge-driven in its pursuit to create the ultimate plant-based protein whole-cuts. Rival Foods can transform a wide variety of plant-based ingredients into products with great texture, rich mouthfeel and juiciness using limited ingredients.

Aside from technology, Rival Foods also actively engages in the market by working together with leading chefs, food professionals and industry players. In these collaborations, Rival Foods explores opportunities to create exciting eating experiences that fit with local food culture and make animal products obsolete.

About LIVEKINDLY Collective

LIVEKINDLY Collective was founded by Blue Horizon Group on the belief that plant-based alternatives have the power to make the global food system sustainable. As a collective of entrepreneurs and business leaders from across the globe, LIVEKINDLY Collective is uniquely positioned to create impact with speed, at scale – because of its unique capabilities and purpose-driven mission to effect change through sustainable, cruelty-free, plant-based alternatives. Through its portfolio of brands, Oumph!, The Fry Family Food Co. and LikeMeat, LIVEKINDLY Collective is making plant-based eating the new normal and providing consumers around the world with healthy, sustainable, delicious food options. Furthermore, LIVEKINDLY Collective is the voice of the movement, communicating informative, entertaining and inspiring content about veganism and the environment through its media and lifestyle platform, LIVEKINDLY.

Rival Foods has won the competitive Rabobank Duurzame Innovatieprijs 2020 in the category Food&Agri! On top of the category prize, worth EUR 20.000,-, Rival Foods also won the Public prize, thanks to the public votes cast in the weeks prior to the finals. This prize consists of EUR 3.000,- in the form of a scale-up scan by ScaleUpNation.

Read more about the winners and finalists on: https://www.vmt.nl/duurzaamheid-mvo/nieuws/2020/12/winnaars-rabobank-duurzame-innovatieprijs-2020-rival-foods-susphos-en-bilihome-10144910?_ga=2.18872377.1076680231.1606815179-40451192.1606815179

Rival Foods is very proud to be one of the 10 finalists is the Rabobank Duurzame Innovatieprijs 2020! You can vote for us now.

Furtmore, recordings are being made for a special news item on the finalists, to be broadcasted on RTL-Z on the 26th of November at 20:30. Stay tuned for more news.

Currently, most animal protein analogue products are substitutes for burgers or sausages. Rival Foods creates plant-based alternatives for whole-muscle products, such as loins, filets and whole-cuts. OostNL supports regional entrepreneurs with their growth voucher program, of which Rival Foods also makes use. This allows Rival Foods to accellerate development and obtain a head start in the market.

Read More about the OostNL program on their website.

Transforming the global food system is more critical than ever. Rival Foods is dedicated to accelerate the transformation to a more sustainable, future-proof food system. This resonates well with the mission of The Good Food Institute: we are honoured to be one of the winners of the 2019 competitive research grant program of The Good Food Institute.

Learn more about our work and the GFI grant program here.