THIS opens London tattoo pop-up to launch plant-based fillet steak

THIS turned a London tattoo studio into a launch pad for its new Fillet Steak, using a one-day pop-up called A Delicious Misteak Tattoo Parlour to push the product beyond a standard supermarket debut. At Flamin’ Eight in Kentish Town, the brand offered free cowboy-themed flash tattoos and free plant-based steak sandwiches, with the activation running from 11:30am to 4pm on Saturday, May 16, on a first-come, first-served basis.

The stunt put a spotlight on a product THIS says is vegan and contains 31g of protein per serving. Tesco lists the plant-based fillet steak as made with wheat protein and soya bean protein and says it has lower saturated fat, while the pack itself was reported to retail at £7 for two 110g fillets. That combination of protein count, meat-like format and premium price is exactly where whole-cut alternatives are trying to prove they can compete, not just on nutrition but on texture, chew and the feeling of being a real occasion food.

The London pop-up fits a broader launch plan that started in supermarkets weeks earlier. The Fillet Steak went into Tesco on April 13, 2026, followed by Asda on April 22, with Sainsbury’s and Waitrose added in early May. THIS, founded in June 2019 by Andy Shovel and Pete Sharman, has been widening its range for years, and the company’s €23.6 million Series C funding round in June 2024 gave it more firepower to back launches that look designed to premiumize the brand rather than treat plant-based meat as a bargain swap.

That matters because the UK plant-based category has been under pressure. Good Food Institute Europe said UK plant-based retail sales fell 4.5% to £898 million in the year to January 2025, while an AHDB-linked report said meat-free product sales fell 12.4% in January 2025 even as meat, fish and poultry volume sales rose 1.4%. Mintel’s 2025 UK Meat Substitutes Market Report also said the decline continued and argued that rebuilding confidence in nutrition and eating experience is critical. Against that backdrop, THIS’s tattoo-parlour format did more than generate a photo opportunity. It tried to give a premium plant-based steak a lifestyle edge, making the product feel cultural, playful and memorable enough to pull in shoppers who are not already committed to vegan protein.