Meet Farmers & Chefs’ CEO Karsten Becht…
… summarizing the progress of this plant-based rising star
Farmers & Chefs is a Nordic plant-based brand and start-up company.
While plant-based has already initiated change in some categories, we are only seeing the beginning of this transformation. Farmers & Chefs aims to be a key player in this transformation, making plant-based cooking the natural choice for consumers.
We achieve our mission by taking a slightly different approach, targeting consumers that most established and other new plant-based brands do not appeal to, with bespoke communication and product concepts that overcome barriers to existing products.
Farmers & Chefs does not promote a ‘hard core vegan’ approach. We believe in the power of small actions – to change a little over time. We believe that the consumers should not have to compromise on good cooking and great taste experience. Therefore, we offer new plant-based alternatives with carefully selected ingredients, making it easy to do cook sustainable meals. Farmers & Chefs is created by a group of dedicated food lovers, collaborating with farmers and chefs to create superior products taking cooking to the next level.
Equally important as delivering on sustainability, is ensuring that products are healthy for the consumers. Our key words are natural and cleaner label (e.g. short ingredient list, no or minimal additives) without compromising on quality. For example, our barista milks perform as the big players in the market, while avoiding any additives. Check out our website and you will be surprised. Farmers & Chefs (farmersandchefs.se). Moreover, Farmers & Chefs will launch its plant-based assortment across multiple categories to further impact consumer food habits.
“With Farmers & Chefs we have developed plant-based, clean label cooking products that I am proud to serve my guests – with cooking qualities that are unmatched in the market today.”
NIKLAS EKSTEDT
Retailers in Sweden and Finland share our view, reflecting our listings in key retailers in Sweden (ICA/Coop) and Finland (Kesko/SOK). As we build our home market, we are already preparing for roll-out into other countries. We have launched six SKUs since spring 2022: oat-based cooking cream, crème fraiches and several baristas. In the autumn, we expand into sauces and have a strong innovation pipeline for 2023.
I am proud to have a highly experienced team with decades of FMCG and food & beverage experience from P&G, Unilever, Arla, Kavli, and others. This means that we develop the company, the products, and the brand with knowledge, and do things by the book (e.g., with consumer qualified concepts, designs, products, etc.)
We are proud that with Nicoya we have a dedicated expert investor – leveraging their eco-system of companies and know-who, putting us in a unique position to leverage experts even beyond the typical start-up.
In a nutshell: Farmers & Chefs is propelling plant-based cooking as the natural choice for consumers by enhancing the cooking performance with 100% plant-based, tasty, clean label, healthy and high-performing cooking products for a sustainable future. Launched by food lovers and Niklas Ekstedt, backed by Nicoya.