New Plant-based Online Store Focusing On Frozen Delivery Is Set To Combat Food Waste

• Mighty Plants offers access to ‘frozen aisle’ online aiming to help reduce food waste.
• Supports pioneering small brands that offer sustainable products with eco-friendly packaging.
• The company recently received investment to boost its operations.

Creators of the UK’s first dairy-free avocado ice cream brand Fravocado launched an online frozen food shop to help reduce food waste and support other independent frozen food brands to reach consumers.

Mighty Plants has recently received investment in a funding round led by Dismatrix Group, a venture capital firm run by Sebastiano Cossia Castiglioni and Miray Zaki to kick start their new business. Dismatrix Group focuses on sustainably driven, environmentally friendly companies that work to improve our food system.

UK’s first frozen plant-based food shop

Mighty Plants is the UK’s first and only online frozen plant-based food supermarket and aims to be a vegan store where non-vegans shop. Mighty Plants is an online ‘frozen aisle’ where consumers can shop for multiple sustainable frozen products in the comfort of their home and, with just one click, get them delivered to their door. It offers delicious dairy-free ice cream, allergen-free frozen food, tasty vegan ready meals, and super realistic plant-based meat alternatives from brands that aim to replace the meat from our food system. The shop caters to those who care about what they put on their plates but have no time for regular shopping because of their busy lifestyle.

Mighty Plants was founded by Becky and Gabriel, who aim to promote frozen food and raise awareness on food waste. The founders of the Fravocado – a popular dairy-free and allergen-free ice cream brand say: “A positive future of our planet, its environment, animals and people is at the centre of everything we do and every decision we make.”

Food waste is one of the biggest environmental problems

Globally, one out of every four food calories produced for people is never eaten by them, which means that an estimated 25% of the world’s food calories are lost or wasted.

Nearly 40% of losses happen at the retail or consumer level. In the UK, over 10.2 million tonnes of good food goes to waste every year. That equals 156 kg per person. It is estimated that over 8 million people in the UK are struggling to afford food.

Most wasted food in the UK ends up in landfill, which adds to the problem of greenhouse gas emissions, releasing methane and carbon dioxide. These most polluting gases contribute to climate change. If food waste were a country, it would be the third biggest polluter on Earth.

Frozen food help reduce food waste

One of the easiest ways to prevent food waste at your home is by buying frozen food. Reports suggest that if people consumed more frozen food, we could significantly reduce food waste. A study by Manchester Metropolitan University (2018) has revealed that British families could reduce their waste by nearly half (47.5%) by eating frozen food.

Frozen food saves money and time

Reducing food waste means more money for weekly shopping. The frozen food supply chain creates less food waste, and that makes frozen products cheaper than their fresh equivalents. Lower prices of plant-based frozen food make healthier food options more accessible to low budget households.

Frozen food is healthy and tasty

Frozen vegetables, fruits, plant-based meats and plant-based seafood preserve their flavour, nutrients and vitamins for a long time. Especially fruits and veggies are often superior in nutritional value and taste since they are picked and processed when they are ripe. Flash freezing technology seals in all the best flavour, minerals and nutrients. Fresh vegetables and fruits are harvested before they mature, and they often travel long distances, exposed to different weather conditions, light and temperature, which has a negative impact on their nutritional value.

How Mighty Plants was born

During the Covid-19 pandemic, Becky and Gabriel lost many retail customers when the shops and restaurants were closed and stopped ordering their ice cream. They realised they needed to pivot their strategy if they wanted their business to survive through a challenging period. With many companies turning to sell their products directly to consumers online, they thought it was nearly impossible in the case of ice cream.

Delivering frozen food requires special packaging, and the service is costly. To make frozen shipping cost-effective, there had to be a reasonable minimum order, which Becky thought would price them out of the e-commerce market. She explains: “I had to put myself into the consumers’ shoes, and things were tight financially. Could I really justify spending a minimum of £30 on ice cream, let alone have the freezer space for it?”

That was the moment they decided to join forces with other independent brands and launch an online store for ethically sourced frozen plant-based foods.

After months of research, they managed to find a way to send their ice cream using sustainable insulation packaging made from recycled plastic bottles. They use only waste plastic bottles that would otherwise end in landfill or left to litter the environment.

They also closely collaborate with small independent frozen brands that share their ethos and found themselves in a difficult situation during the pandemic, so the customers have a variety of the best vegan frozen goods to stock up their freezers.

Mighty Plants carefully select the brands they work with. They choose brands that show transparency in sourcing their ingredients and offer innovative, environmentally-friendly, plastic-free, recyclable, compostable or biodegradable packaging.

Becky said: “We want to give you food flexibility – frozen food lasts longer and reduces waste – which is great for your wallet and the planet.”

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Dismatrix Group co-founder Miray Zaki, said: “Dismatrix is proud to have invested in Mighty Plants, a new delivery service for frozen vegan food and desserts. The founders of Mighty Plants launched a vegan frozen delivery service to help combat the food waste problem and the greenhouse emissions. They offer better options to those following a plant-based diet from both large and small producers. Buying frozen and plant-based foods can help cut food waste throughout the supply chain and in households. “This was a perfect fit for investment firm Dismatrix, which backs sustainably-driven, yet financially lucrative opportunities in the plant-based food revolution.”

Mighty Plants founder Becky Osborn, said: “It’s an honour to be working with Miray and Sebastiano of Dismatrix Group, not only has it given us a lot of validation to our vision but they bring a wealth of experience and knowledge. We are now ready to take Mighty Plants to the next level.”