How tofu has got on the menu during the pandemic and boosted this Yorkshire firm

The pandemic has led to more people expanding their food horizons and considering meat free, plant based options as they ate out less and cooked more at home, according to a tofu producer.
“People increasingly are going to think about more meat free and the market itself is growing," says David Knibbs, owner of the Tofoo Co.“People increasingly are going to think about more meat free and the market itself is growing," says David Knibbs, owner of the Tofoo Co.
“People increasingly are going to think about more meat free and the market itself is growing," says David Knibbs, owner of the Tofoo Co.

Malton-based Tofoo Co has seen its turnover climb sharply almost doubling last year to £14.7m. In contrast it had a turnover of £600,000 in 2016 when current owners Dave Knibbs and Lydia Smith acquired the business.

Mr Knibbs told The Yorkshire post: “Lockdown came along and of course you have then got people who were forced to eat at home because restaurants had closed.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“We feel like people have experimented a bit more with their diet over this year. They’ve expanded that repertoire of meals and they have become a little bit more adventurous and maybe they have tried things like tofu for the first time, loved it and kept on buying it.

Dave Knibbs and Lydia Smith met while they were both working at Leeds-based food business Symington’s.Dave Knibbs and Lydia Smith met while they were both working at Leeds-based food business Symington’s.
Dave Knibbs and Lydia Smith met while they were both working at Leeds-based food business Symington’s.

“Certainly, the number of households eating tofu and our brand has doubled year-on-year. We think the lockdown has helped that. Now it has become quite ingrained behaviour.

“We’ve been one of those businesses that has benefitted and so has meat free in general from what’s happened with people going back to cooking at home.”

The firm’s tofu is made of soybeans, water and a coagulant called nigari, an extract of sea water.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Awareness around environmental issues as a result of the campaigning efforts of the likes of Greta Thunberg and Sir David Attenborough have also boosted the wider plant based sector.

The Malton-based firm is looking to grow off the back of increasing demand for plant based alternatives.The Malton-based firm is looking to grow off the back of increasing demand for plant based alternatives.
The Malton-based firm is looking to grow off the back of increasing demand for plant based alternatives.

Mr Knibbs said: “People increasingly are going to think about more meat free and the market itself is growing.

“It’s a generational shift towards more meat free eating.”

It has propelled the Veganuary concept to being on a par with new year diet resolutions and general healthy eating, Mr Knibbs added.

Veganuary encourages people to go vegan in the month of January. Mr Knibbs believes it’s a concept that is here to stay and Veganuary has helped boost sales.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

He said: “The best ever week we had as a business was actually in November last year. We sold about 36,000-37,000 cases. Last week we did 48,000 cases. We beat our best week by 25-30 per cent. This week will be the same.

“We had a great year last year and doubled our business and last year in January we did 19,000 cases in that same week.”

The majority of people are simply adding more plant based food into their diets rather than switching fully to veganism.

“Most consumers will never get anywhere near veganism,” Mr Knibbs sayd. “They might introduce some vegan products into their diet but they are not going to adopt a wholly vegan lifestyle.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

This is partly due to improvements in flavour profiles across the wider sector.

Mr Knibbs said: “When we bought the business five years ago, we did quite a lot of consumer research.

“It was clear back then that we could have talked about health and environment but consumers actually wanted to talk about taste and flavour. People want to eat tasty food. That was tofu’s problem. People perceived it as healthy but they didn’t necessarily perceive it as tasty. The work we have done, pretty much consistently for the last five years, has been focused on taste.”

The Malton-based firm is looking to grow off the back of increasing demand for plant based alternatives and is looking to add more managers to oversee its 110 staff production facility in the market town.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“It’s not just production staff any longer,” Mr Knibbs says, “there will be a need and requirement for more management staff as well as the business grows.”

Industry brought couple together

Dave Knibbs and Lydia Smith met while they were both working at Leeds-based food business Symington’s.

The couple have always worked in the food industry and wanted to build their own business and acquired the Tofoo Co in 2016.

“We had a shared love of work and running businesses,” Mr Knibbs said. “That was part of the inspiration for looking for a business that we could buy. We work really well together. “

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The couple themselves are not vegan but have found themselves increasingly eating less meat.

“For sure we’re eating an awful lot more tofu than we were five years ago,” Mr Knibbs added.

---

Support The Yorkshire Post and become a subscriber today.

Your subscription will help us to continue to bring quality news to the people of Yorkshire. In return, you'll see fewer ads on site, get free access to our app and receive exclusive members-only offers.

So, please - if you can - pay for our work. Just £5 per month is the starting point. If you think that which we are trying to achieve is worth more, you can pay us what you think we are worth. By doing so, you will be investing in something that is becoming increasingly rare. Independent journalism that cares less about right and left and more about right and wrong. Journalism you can trust.

Thank you

James Mitchinson

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.