Lightlife Debuts Vegan Beef in the Meat Aisle

Starting this week, new vegan meat products by Lightlife Foods will be hitting the meat aisles at retailers such as Safeway, Vons, Wegmans, and many others across the United States, along with more than 3,400 retailers in Canada. Its first major innovation in 40 years, Lightlife’s new Plant-Based Burger and Plant-Based Ground are made from a base of pea protein, coconut oil, and beet powder—ingredients similar to those of Beyond Meat’s Beyond Burger and upcoming Beyond Beef grounds. Lightlife was founded in 1979 as a vegetarian company and removed all animal ingredients in 2017 shortly after its $140 million acquisition by Canadian meat brand Maple Leaf Foods. “This launch is [a] very exciting time for the business and the brand,” Dan Curtin, President of Greenleaf Foods, the parent company of Lightlife, said. “We’ve said it before: we didn’t join the plant-based category overnight—we’ve long been pioneering the industry. With this in mind, it’s wonderful to be able to see years of expertise, innovation, and passion come to fruition when this groundbreaking product hits shelves this month.” In addition to burgers and ground beef, the brand will launch two sausage flavors (Bratwurst and Italian) at select retailers this month. Whole Foods Market will begin to stock Lightlife’s new products alongside Beyond Meat’s burgers and sausages in July.