Israeli plant-based vegan food company to build production facility in Australia

Vgarden, known in the Israeli market as Mashu Mashu, is five-year-old firm based at northern kibbutz already supplying global pizza companies, other large stores and food companies

By Sue Surkes 28 September 2022, 3:07 pm Edit

Sue Surkes is The Times of Israel's environment reporter.

Vgarden, which produces plant-based, dairy-free cheeses, spreads, pastries, meat, and fish, is to partner with an Australian company to build its first overseas production facility — in Brisbane.

The facility will replace a traditional dairy product processing plant and is set to employ 50 people once it’s fully up and running by late next year.

Based at Kibbutz Gan Shmuel near Haifa in northern Israel since its founding in 2015, Vgarden — marketed in Israel under the name Mashu Mashu (“something special” in Hebrew) already counts several major international restaurants and food suppliers among its customers, among them Papa John’s, Domino’s Pizza, Pizza Hut, Costco and Woolworths.

Ilan Adut, Vgarden’s CEO, said, “The Israeli spirit of innovation combined with the fact that Israel is home to the highest number of vegans per capita have helped transform Israel into a food tech powerhouse, particularly in the plant-based sector.”

According to the Good Food Institute, Israeli companies are leading the world in food tech investments in the plant-based alternative proteins sector, and come second only to the US in funds invested in the alternative protein industry as a whole.

A recent report published by Fortune Business Insights predicted that the global vegan food market will grow from from $26.16 billion in 2021 to $61.35 billion in 2028.

Vgarden is owned by Kibbutz Gan Shmuel and Hadar Food Technology Ltd, and the Australian partner is Cale and Daughters.