After years of masquerading, veggie burgers are embracing their differences.
For a long time, meatless patties were made to mimic hamburgers, adding caramel coloring, even going so far as to add grill marks. But today’s diners are looking for something different.
A new line from Kraft’s Boca brand is showcasing the patties’ unique attributes, rather than mimicking their meaty counterparts. The Boca Essentials line features ingredients such as quinoa and trendy flavors, including chile relleno.
Increasingly, more consumers are describing themselves as vegetarians, or flexitarians — people who eat mostly vegetarian diets and occasionally eat meat. Efforts such as Meatless Mondays have led others to cut back on their intake of meat and look for alternative sources of protein.
“Consumer interest in plant-based protein has been strong,” said Boca Brand Manager Zach Meyers, who said Boca spoke with consumers to develop its new products. “What they told us was deliver some innovative, exciting flavors, bring some of that culinary excitement to the category and give us something that’s going to help us meet that protein that we’re looking for.”
This month, three new patties are debuting under the new name Boca Essentials: a “breakfast scramble” burger made with potatoes, scrambled eggs and vegetables; roasted vegetables and red quinoa with brown rice; and chile relleno with green chile peppers, black beans and brown rice.
It is the first time Boca has even used ingredients such as brown rice, black beans and quinoa.
The launches come as Kraft tries to win back diners and claim new ones in a category that is expected to reach $495.9 million in the United States by 2019, up from $443.6 million in 2014, according to Euromonitor International.
But Boca hasn’t kept up with its biggest rival, Morningstar Farms, which is owned by Kellogg.
Boca’s share of the category for frozen meat substitutes fell to 11.1 percent last year, down from 23.4 percent in 2005, according to data from Euromonitor International. Meanwhile, Kellogg maintained a healthy lead with 55.8 percent of the market, led by its top-selling Morningstar Farms brand.
In the 52-week period ended Feb. 22, Boca’s sales fell 16.8 percent, versus a 1.8 percent decline for Kellogg, according to IRI, a Chicago-based market research firm. Both companies are seeing smaller rivals, such as Canada’s Gardein, growing at a fast clip.
Restaurants, too, are getting into the trend. Even White Castle — known for its beef sliders — has gone veggie. White Castle brought Dr. Praeger’s veggie sliders into its restaurants in January for a limited run, but this month said the meatless sliders would remain on the menu.
Nearly 20 percent of restaurants offered veggie burgers in 2014, and 3.3 percent offered a black-bean burger, up from 12.2 percent and 0.8 percent, respectively, in 2006, according to Datassential, a research firm that tracks restaurant trends.
Boca executives said they worked with an unnamed innovation firm to get a better sense of the consumer trends in the category. According to Tricia White, vice president of research, development and quality at Boca, 75 percent of adults are looking to add protein to their diets.
Boca is promoting the products as having “complete protein,” with nine essential amino acids, something that makes them different from other Boca burgers. For example, Boca’s All American Flame Grilled Veggie Burgers have more protein per serving than the new Boca Essentials patties, but they do not carry the nine essential amino acids.
The research and development process for the new patties took six to eight months, White said.
Kraft bought Chicago-based Boca Burger in 2000, a year after Boca Burger’s sales reached about $40 million, almost double from 1998.
Kraft at one time anticipated that Boca could be a $100 million brand. But its U.S. sales were just $49.2 million in 2014, according to Euromonitor data. Kraft declined to share specific sales figures, but confirmed that its sales declined last year, along with what it said was a decline in the overall category.
Meyers, Boca’s brand manager, said he believes there’s an opportunity to spice things up.
With new flavors and ingredients, Kraft is hoping to deliver some “foodie passion” to the category, said Meyers, citing ingredients such as green chile peppers. “These were flavors that consumers certainly got excited about.”
Kellogg also grew in the meatless category through acquisitions. Kellogg bought Worthington Foods, the company that made Morningstar Farms, in 1999, and acquired Wholesome & Hearty Foods, the maker of Gardenburger products, in 2007.
Kellogg’s Morningstar Farms has been bringing out new products as well. In December, it introduced three new products including a Spicy Indian Veggie Burger, with a curry flavor and organic ingredients such as red lentils and chickpeas.
