Meat free food manufacturer Tofoo is set to hire more staff as demand soars

A YORKSHIRE-based meat-free food manufacturer plans to hire more staff to cope with soaring demand which could transform it into a £35m turnover business by 2025.

David Knibbs

The Tofoo Co is also boosting the production capacity at its base in Malton, North Yorkshire, after sales rocketed in recent months.

The Tofoo Co, which is run by the husband and wife team of David Knibbs and Lydia Smith, saw its turnover exceed £1m in January 2020, which was more than double the turnover figure recorded in January 2019.

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It also surpasses the turnover generated in the whole of 2016.

Lydia Smith and David Knibbs

After starting as a small, family-run business four years ago, the company has enjoyed rapid growth with its products now sold in major supermarkets including Waitrose, Sainsburys, Tesco and Co-op.

Mr Knibbs, who is the founder and managing director of The Tofoo Co, told The Yorkshire Post that the company was still fairly small but had a big vision.

“We’ve been blown away by consumers’ response,” he said.

“Our sales in January and February were massive, more than double last year.

“A lot of people are eating more meat-free meals. Only two per cent of the UK are eating Tofoo which means there is 98 per cent still to go for.

“We are spending £2m at Malton building more capacity. Our capacity should have increased by 75 per cent in June.”

Mr Knibbs added: “We now have 81 staff and definitely plan to hire more. In the first week of January we sold 30,000 cases and last week we sold around 40,000 cases.

“We can’t supply everybody we are being asked to do at the moment. We are turning over £12m this year and in five years’ time we expect to turnover between £30m and £35m.”

The Tofoo Co launched three products in January and more are planned for later this year.

Mr Knibbs said: “We are now doing marinated and diced products. We are trying to expand the footprint of the brand.”

He said that the company’s growth is being primarily driven by its best-selling ‘Naked’ product.

He continued: “Our aim is not to mimic or replace meat – tofu is a valuable addition to meal times and to a multitude of diets, not just those who follow meat-free or vegan lifestyles.

“Eastern diets have contained less meat for thousands of years and tofu has long held an important place in those diets.

“This is now being seen in modern UK diets with more people using our ‘Naked’ tofu to make a host of meat-free meals.

“We strongly believe that the growth and dominance of The Tofoo Co in the tofu market is testament to the superior product which has better taste and texture due to the traditional Japanese recipe using Nigari; each product is hand-made in small batches and we produce every single pack in Yorkshire.”

The meat-substitute market has soared over recent years with many UK adults choosing to avoid foods or ingredients containing meat and 39 per cent regularly buying ‘free from’ food and drink, according to recent figures from Mintel.

As well as a rising number of vegans and vegetarians, many Britons are cutting down their meat intake by adopting flexitarianism or trends like ‘meat-free Mondays’, and the UK is also witnessing a drive towards healthy eating and sustainability, which major supermarket brands have been keen to support.