Rival Foods and THIS launch plant-based steak in UK supermarkets

The real test for plant-based steak is not the lab or the launch event, but the supermarket shelf. Rival Foods and THIS introduced a 100% plant steak to British supermarkets on April 14, putting a whole-cut format into a market where shoppers have repeatedly pushed back on taste, price and whether plant-based meat feels worth buying again.

The steak is built from plant-based fibers using Rival Foods’ patented Shear Cell technology, a process the Dutch company says creates fibrous, layered textures designed to mimic muscle tissue. Rival Foods has argued that this kind of structure matters because steak is judged differently from mince or patties: it has to cut, chew and hold together in a way that feels familiar, not merely meat-adjacent. Rival Foods also says the product is minimally processed and contains no artificial colours or flavours.

For Rival Foods, the launch is another step in a growth plan that has been moving quickly. The company was founded in 2019 as a spin-off from Wageningen University & Research, established its first large-scale production site in 2024 and raised €10 million in Series B financing in June 2025. Its investors include ABP via APG, PeakBridge, PYMWYMIC and ROM Utrecht Region. Rival Foods has framed the UK as especially important because the market is twice the size of the Netherlands, giving the company a much bigger retail stage for its whole-cut strategy.

The timing is significant because the broader UK plant-based market has been under pressure even as the shopper base remains substantial. GFI Europe says the UK became Europe’s second-largest retail market for plant-based foods after rapid growth between 2016 and 2020, but sales have fallen since 2021 as taste and price remain the main consumer concerns. Even so, more than 30% of UK households bought plant-based milk or meat at least once in 2024, and around 40% of UK adults say they intend to eat more plant-based foods.

THIS gives the launch another layer of commercial logic. The brand already has a strong position in the UK plant-based aisle and recently rolled out its own plant-based fillet steak into Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose at £7 per pack, with two 110g fillets and 31g of protein per fillet. Rival Foods’ move with THIS suggests the category may be shifting toward premium, texture-led products that try to answer the hardest questions head-on: whether supermarket shoppers will pay for steak-like formats, buy them again and keep the segment growing.