Food Nation - Plant Powered and Proud

A plant-based business started by a meat-eater? We met Food Nation NZ almost a year ago and placed their product development manager. To see them launch this year into stores and food bags across the country was a really special moment. We caught up with co-founder Josie Lambert to hear the story of this kiwi-grown business...we guarantee you will be running out to get your own!

When people go to the barbecue in the summer and proudly bring our pack and put it down next to the meat, and people feel excited about that option, that'll be success.

I'm Josie Lambert, one of the founders of Food Nation.

We firmly believe that the biggest way we can improve human health, and planetary health is through a balanced diet, and the biggest barrier to doing that was the quality of delicious plant food, the price of it, and the ease of cooking it. We wanted to create a truly joyous dining experience that made plants the heroes. They performed just like mince, cooked like mince, but they're 100% made of plants, which is the magic. And we're just about to launch some Happy Patties.

Sustainability is core to what we do; it's part of why we started the business. Like I said, diet is the biggest thing we can do for human health and planetary health. And I myself am a meat eater, and I get that balance is a good thing. Eating more plants is definitely a sustainability winner for the world.

But a lot of the reason we saw people not doing it was around a sense of deficit - "if I'm not eating meat, I'm missing out." I wanted to create a business that would help sustain the planet, deliver good nutrition to people's diets, provide options and balance, and be delicious at all times, bringing joy to your diet.