Israeli Meat Producer Invests in Thai Plant-Based Factory

The Israeli meat producer Soglowek has acquired a 70% stake in the Thai plant-based meat manufacturer Plant & Bean. The acquisition was made from an existing shareholder for an undisclosed sum.

Soglowek will operate the factory in Ayutthaya in collaboration with Thai state-owned oil producer PTT, which retains its indirect 30% equity in the venture. PTT's share comes via its life sciences arm Innobic, which formed a joint venture with Nove Foods Co to establish the Nutra Regenerative Protein Co (NRPT) entity that holds the direct stake.

The acquisition will fund an expansion of Plant & Bean's facility, which will double its output. This effort is already underway and is set to take about a year.

Plant & Bean was founded in 2019 as a spinout from the meat-free division of Brecks Foods in the UK. However, it ran into financial trouble in 2023 due to food and energy inflation resulting from Covid-19 and Russia's war on Ukraine. It soon called in administrators, who sold its UK production facility and assets to VBites founder Heather Mills.

While it was navigating the UK headwinds, Plant & Bean was planning its factory in Thailand, which it had set up via the joint venture with NRPT in 2021. That facility began operations in 2024, spanning 3,000 sq ft and boasting an eventual capacity of churning out 25,000 tonnes of plant-based meat every year.

It passed the BRC Global Food Safety Standard at the Grade A level, and was the first ASEAN company to receive a BRCGS Plant-Based certification for the production and distribution of plant-based foods. It also obtained good hygiene practices and HACCP (hazard analysis) authorisations.

Plant & Bean produces both ready-to-cook and ready-to-eat formats, including meatballs, minced meat, sausages, nuggets and dumplings, supplying customers in the UK, Southeast Asia, and the US. In Thailand, it has partnered with Church's Texas Chicken, which has outlets at PTT petrol stations, as well as NRPT's Alt.Eatery brand.

The acquisition comes as demand for plant-based eating grows in Thailand. Hotels in the country are committing to adding more plant-based proteins on their menu, just as the government has called for a shift to a plant-rich food system.

The transaction will see Eli Soglowek, son of the company's founder, move to Thailand, leaving his role as chairman of the business to become the president of its international operations instead.

The development builds on the alternative protein sector's consolidation wave - since September 2024, at least 85 players involved in this space have been acquired, merged, fallen into insolvency, or shut down altogether.

The following is a summary of the key figures involved in the acquisition:

The acquisition is a significant move for the plant-based meat industry, and it will be interesting to see how it develops in the coming months.