Award Winner
Infinite Foods, Africa’s premier go-to-market platform for leading plant-based food brands, cofounded by entrepreneur Michelle Adelman, was awarded the “Best Plant-Based Business” Award at the FoodBev Media World Plant-Based Awards in association with Plant Based World on 2 October 2020. This award comes on the eve of Infinite Foods’ second anniversary and continued growth with several new international and local brands joining the portfolio. As the only African business to be included in the awards, this is an incredible recognition of the growth of the plant-based industry on the continent.
Within the first two years since launch, Infinite Foods has become Sub-Saharan Africa’s leading go-to-market platform for premier plant-based foods providing African consumers access to the most delicious and coolest plant-based food brands, creating employment, transforming agriculture and feeding the community. It’s turn-key go-to-market platform includes integrated supply chain to bring the most prestigious plant-based food brands to Sub-Saharan Africa, including Beyond Meat, Miyoko’s Creamery and Oatly as well as supporting local brands expand their reach, like plant-based cheesemaker, Le Coquin. The brands in Infinite Foods’ portfolio are now offered through more than 1,000 retail and foodservice outlets across South Africa, Botswana, Mauritius including Woolworths, Famous Brands and Spur Group. Infinite Foods will be expanding into Kenya and Ghana in the next 2 quarters. It has demonstrated consumer demand for plant-based products, and is on track to deliver 4 million plant-based servings in 2020, equivalent to the daily protein requirement of 1 million days.
Infinite Foods’ mission is to develop a more sustainable food system, helping Africa leapfrog past environmentally taxing and unhealthy meat and dairy practices by improving the accessibility, affordability and convenience of plant-based food. This mission was recognised by the judges who commented, “I love the ethos behind Infinite Foods and its focus on creating accessibility of healthy, plant-based food in an area that will need it the most in the coming future.”
With lactose intolerance affecting more than 75% of Africans and the dramatic increase of lifestyle diseases including cardiovascular disease, obesity and diabetes, creating a healthier food system that also protects the environment from climate change has never been more important. “We are seeing the exponential growth of meat and dairy consumption on the continent which threatens our health systems and resiliency,” says Michelle Adelman, Co-Founder and CEO of Infinite Foods. “If we can be successful in our mission of providing consumers tasty and healthy alternatives to meat and dairy, we can set up Sub Saharan Africa to a healthier and more sustainable food system that will benefit all.”
As the only African brand to be included as a finalist and winner in these awards, this is a major step in global recognition of the growth of the plant-based industry in Africa and seeing Africa as a viable and critical market for international brands. Growing towards 2 Billion consumers by 2050, Africa is not a market that can be ignored by this rapidly expanding industry. Neil Taylor, COO of Infinite Foods said, “Prior to the launch of Infinite Foods, many international brands could not even think about entering the African market as part of their global expansion. We have created a platform that makes international distribution so turnkey that for some brands, Africa is their first international market. It is great to be recognized for the work we are doing to make Africa a player in this industry and we are excited about our progress toward supporting local brands, building manufacturing capacity and incubating agricultural protein inputs for local farmers.”
To find out more about Infinite Foods, visit the website: www.infinitefoods.com
