Hain Celestial-owned Linda McCartney Foods has announced the addition of a new Chicken Style Dippers product to its vegan range, designed to bring familiar formats to school catering.
The new dippers aim to offer schools a convenient meat-free option that can support inclusive menus without compromising on taste, quality or nutrition.
This follows recent research from the brand, finding that four in five (80%) of parents say it is important for vegetarian school meals to be offered in familiar formats children already enjoy – such as dippers, nuggets and bites.
Linda McCartney Foods’ new Chicken Style Dippers contain 29g of protein per recommended school serving, and are free from dairy, egg and other animal-derived ingredients. This positions the product to support schools in meeting the UK government’s School Food Standards in England, which require a non-dairy protein option on three or more days each week.
The brand’s research found that when vegan 'chicken-style' dippers look and taste similar to traditional chicken dippers, 69% of parents say their child is likely to choose them at school.
Rebecca Fairbairn, marketing and strategy director at Linda McCartney Foods, said: “. For vegan and vegetarian options to be successful in schools, children need to genuinely enjoy them. We've created a dipper that kids will actually want to eat, which means better uptake for caterers, less waste, and more children benefiting from nutritious meat-free meals.”
The product has launched in 8 x 200g foodservice packs, now available nationwide via catering wholesalers.
Last week, it was announced that EU policymakers have agreed to go forward with a ban on using animal-associated words like ‘chicken’ in the names and marketing of plant-based products. This looks set to impact the UK market due to a recent trade deal made with the EU, and due to companies standardising products across markets.
Though use of the word ‘chicken’ would be prohibited under the regulation, as well as cut-specific names like ‘breast’ and ‘thigh,’ widely used, generic format-based names like ‘burger,’ ‘nuggets’ and ‘sausage’ will be spared from restrictions. Products like Linda McCartney Foods’ latest launch would therefore be permitted to use names such as ‘Vegan Dippers,’ but ‘Chicken Style Dippers’ would not be allowed.
Major industry players are currently petitioning for lawmakers to reconsider the ban, arguing that it will stifle innovation across the plant-based sector and create unnecessary complexity for both businesses and consumers.
