At Quorn Foods Ltd, they believe they have a significant role to play as part of the future food challenge. The research they have invested in since 2010 has worked to gain a comprehensive view of the environmental impacts of their product range, in order for them to contribute to the wider sustainable diets debate.

The history of Quorn Foods holds an interesting resonance with today’s challenge of how to achieve sustainable nutrition within the context of climate change. The original ‘Quorn Story’ began in the 1960s, when the founder of the business Lord J. Arthur Rank envisaged a new way of producing protein. This was a reaction to the food security concerns at the time and required significant research and development over many years. The framework of the research was built on finding a micro-organism that could convert carbohydrates into more nutritionally valuable proteins. This led to the discovery of a tiny member of the fungi family that was capable of this conversion via fermentation. The resulting unique ingredient – Mycoprotein – offers authentic meat-like texture, has a range of nutritional benefits and a low environmental impact.

Returning to more recent times – in October 2015 the business was acquired by Monde Nissin Corporation, based in the Philippines. Monde Nissin consider Quorn to be central to their vision of building a business respectful of our planet as well as contributing to improved public health and food security. They have invested significantly in terms of marketing and capital and expect to spend a further £100m over the next five years.

Business turnover in 2017 exceeded £200m, with sales to most western European Countries, Australasia, USA and more recently new markets in South East Asia. Our Head Office is based in North Yorkshire and we have two other production facilities in the UK, as well as sales offices in USA and across Europe. We employ around 800 people across the business.

This is an exciting time for the continuing development of our organisation as we set out to achieve our ambition of becoming the world’s first $1 billion meat-free business by 2027.