Squeaky Bean facts for kids
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| Private | |
| Industry | Vegan Food |
| Founded | 2018 |
| Headquarters | |
| Products | Meat analogue |
| Owner | The Compleat Food group |
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Number of employees
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200+ |
Squeaky Bean is a British company that makes delicious plant-based foods. They started selling their products in 2019. The company is owned by a larger food group called The Compleat Food Group and is based in Redhill, Surrey, United Kingdom. Squeaky Bean quickly grew from offering just a few items to having many different products in supermarkets across Britain. They received a lot of investment, which helped them grow even more. By 2021, the company's sales reached £7.5 million.
Contents
The Story of Squeaky Bean
Squeaky Bean is famous for making plant-based "deli slices" and "chicken-style" pieces. These foods are made from plants, not from animals. Even though the name is "Squeaky Bean," beans are not the main ingredient in most of their products!
How It Started
Squeaky Bean is part of a bigger company called Winterbotham Darby, which makes chilled foods. When Squeaky Bean first started, their products were made in the Netherlands before being sold in the UK.
The company officially began selling its foods in January 2019. They first launched with three main products: satay kievs, fishless fingers, and nuggets. The team behind Squeaky Bean wanted to create exciting vegan options for supermarkets. They felt that while there were good vegan choices in restaurants, supermarket options were often boring. Their goal was to bring "childhood favourites" to vegans and offer more "indulgent" food choices.
Squeaky Bean aims to make plant-based foods that taste and look like real meat. They believe that many vegans and vegetarians still enjoy foods that remind them of meat. They also created some "junk food" style options to attract people who might not be looking for super healthy vegan foods.
Growing Bigger and Better
In their second year, Squeaky Bean changed its logo and packaging to look fresh and new. They also stopped using their old slogan. They launched new ready-to-eat products too. The company grew very quickly in its early years, especially in 2021.
In 2020, Squeaky Bean received a £6 million investment. This money helped them open their first manufacturing site in Bicester, UK. Their ability to deliver products to stores increased five times that year. In November 2020, they added six new products to their range.
By 2021, a food industry magazine called The Grocer reported that Squeaky Bean's yearly sales were £7.5 million. As more people bought vegan food, Squeaky Bean sometimes found it hard to keep up with demand. In January 2021 alone, their sales increased by 222% compared to the year before! To help with this, Winterbotham Darby invested another £5 million in 2021. This money was used to open a second manufacturing site in Milton Keynes, allowing them to make even more products.
New Products and Partnerships
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Squeaky Bean started a home delivery service called the "Squeaky Bean Plant-Based Box." This allowed people to get plant-based products delivered to their homes during lockdowns.
In 2020, they added a potato tortilla to their range. In May 2021, the company started making dipping sauces. They launched three new dips in partnership with The Co-operative Group. In June 2021, Squeaky Bean worked with another vegan brand called Crackd. Crackd makes a vegan egg alternative, which Squeaky Bean used to create a new Scotch egg-style product.
In October 2021, Squeaky Bean continued to expand its deli-style slices. They made a deal with Sainsburys supermarket. Squeaky Bean also focused on lunchbox snacks to encourage a "plant hour" idea, where more people eat vegan food for their lunch breaks. In November 2021, they announced their first vegan cheese product. It was a New Yorker–style sandwich filling. This was also the first time a vegan brand had packaged a meat substitute and vegan cheese together. By 2022, their parent company, Winterbotham Darby, reported that Squeaky Bean was selling twenty different products in more than four major British supermarkets.
Awards and Fun Projects
In February 2021, Winterbotham Darby won the "Plant-Based Manufacturing Company of the Year" award. This was for their great work with Squeaky Bean.
In September 2021, Squeaky Bean did something fun to get people talking about their brand. They partnered with social media influencers for an online project that was like a reality TV show. Squeaky Bean created the "Squeaky House" inside a big mansion. Seven influencers moved into the house. There, they lived together and competed in vegan-themed cooking challenges.
