Lightlife, owned by Greenleaf Foods (the plantbased arm of meat manufacturer Maple Leaf), has made sweeping changes to its product portfolio following what it says was the most comprehensive survey in plantbased protein history, saying it is committed to delivering the cleanest ingredient labels in the plant-based meat category.
To define its new brand and business strategy, Lightlife said it connected with more than 11,500 consumers to better understand their values and expectations from plant-based protein. The study uncovered that consumers’ needs went unmet 98% of the time when looking for plant-based protein with simple, recognizable ingredients.
“Our research shows that consumers want to recognize what’s in their plant-based food, but that need is currently unmet. Our goal is to combine great taste and the simplest ingredients so that consumers can choose the products that make them feel good and never guilty,” said Dan Curtin, President of Greenleaf Foods.
The Lightlife Plant-Based Burger is in the first release and has been reformulated using pea protein, coconut oil, garlic powder, and beet powder. This launch will also include Ground, Italian Sausage, Bratwurst Sausage, Breakfast Links, and Breakfast Patties in the grocer’s meat section. This is the first step of Lightlife’s year-long plan to reformulate and revamp the brand’s full product portfolio. Consumers will find the products this week at over 12,000 retail stores across the US and in the coming weeks in Canada.
In line with the new research, Lightlife also unveiled a full brand redesign. “We modified our design to better appeal to our target consumer, and to align with our belief that food should instill confidence and reflect moderation, not extremes,” added Curtin. “Lightlife believes life is complicated and your food shouldn’t be.”
Lightlife is putting its new and improved Lightlife Burger to the test in The Burger Showdown, a virtual competition from Off the Menu and Uber Eats that pairs over 40 celebrities with chefs from their favorite local restaurants to create the ultimate custom burger in celebration of National Burger Day on May 28. Lightlife is the official plant-based partner of The Burger Showdown.
