Meat-free food manufacturer Quorn Foods has officially opened its new UK site as part of a £150 million (US$193 million) investment driven by the increase in the number of people following flexitarian and vegan diets. Quorn says the factory expansion will double the capacity of its core products, adding around 20,000 tons per year.

The state-of-the-art factory expansion of 9,500m2 is located in the North East of England and is to produce 1.33 million packs of Quorn products per week, equivalent to the meat produced by 1,600 cows, according to the company.

The efficiency improvements resulting from the expansion will help Quorn Foods continue to reduce its carbon emissions per ton of food produced, already down by 35 percent since 2012, Quorn reports.

“We are the world leader in meat alternatives and have seen our business grow by 16 percent in the last year. We see decades of growth ahead of us as consumers respond to growing environmental concerns around meat production,” says Quorn Foods Chief Executive Kevin Brennan.

“We provide dramatic sustainability benefits compared to meat and with this new facility will enhance those benefits further. Sustainability is at the heart of our organization and we are committed to ensuring we are being responsible with the carbon footprint of our business.”

This UK expansion also closely follows its elimination of 297 tons of non-recyclable plastic from its supply chain and the pledge to achieve 100 percent recyclable, reusable or compostable packaging by 2025.

With scientists predicting a climate change point-of-no-return as early as 2035, flexitarian and meat-free diets have an important role to play, states the company, emphasizing that greenhouse gas emissions from a bag of Quorn Mince are 90 percent lower than beef mince.

The factory expansion also builds on Quorn Foods’ strongest ever year of growth, a £7 million (US$9 million) investment in a Global Innovation Centre at its Stokesley headquarters, and sees the company stay on track to become a billion-dollar business by 2027.

Meanwhile, in October, Action on Salt claimed that meat-free products, like alternative burgers, bacon-style rashers and sausages, often contain more salt than their animal meat counterparts. Following a UK product survey, lobby group named Quorn’s 4 Best of British Sausages as one of the saltiest vegetarian sausages available.

At the time, a Quorn spokesperson told FoodIngredientsFirst: “Quorn’s Best of British Sausages offer slightly more indulgent sausages. While they are higher in salt, as clearly marked on pack, they are still low in saturated fat. We review all our product recipes on an ongoing basis to ensure we are achieving what our consumers want in terms of taste and health credentials.”