Move aside, tofu — vegan cuisine is stepping into the spotlight with a meaty twist. Once a niche market, this food segment is becoming mainstream, driven by increasing consumer awareness about livestock farming practices, environmental consequences, and health impacts associated with the meat industry. Many individuals aren’t giving up meat due to a lack of affection for it; instead, they find that kale salads and quinoa simply can’t compete with a hearty rack of ribs.
Enter the Herbivorous Butcher, a unique vegan butcher shop founded by siblings Aubry and Kale Walch in Minneapolis. This establishment offers vegan creations that closely resemble the look, taste, texture, and mouthfeel of traditional meat dishes, including hickory smoked bacon, jerk chicken, ribeye steak, and more. Aubry and Kale are part of the booming meat substitute market, which is projected to reach nearly $6 billion in global sales by 2022, according to MarketsandMarkets.
As lifelong vegans, the Walch siblings experimented with mock meat recipes at home for years before introducing their delicious creations to the Minneapolis community. “We started a farmer’s market booth just to test the waters and see if people would enjoy the food, and it exceeded our expectations. We sold out the first weekend, and the trend continued every weekend until we struggled to keep up with demand,” Aubry shared with Food Dive. They contemplated starting a restaurant to showcase their meatless offerings but were cautious about the industry’s high failure rate. Then, a lightbulb moment occurred: “It began as a joke, ‘Let’s open a vegan butcher shop,’” Aubry recalled. “After some laughter, we realized it was a viable idea.”
In 2014, they launched a Kickstarter campaign to turn their vision into reality, surpassing their initial funding goal by over $10,000. With a dedicated team of architects, graphic designers, and business advisors, the Herbivorous Butcher morphed from a playful idea into a thriving faux meat sensation. “We were astonished by the positive response,” Aubry noted. “While we anticipated that people would enjoy our food, we never envisioned the scale of what we would achieve.”
Remarkably, around 65% of the Herbivorous Butcher’s customers are omnivores, some of whom are attempting to reduce their meat intake or cater to the dietary preferences of family members, like vegan or vegetarian children returning home from college. “Many customers are becoming aware of the adverse effects of industrialized farming on our climate and are trying to cut back. We have numerous Meatless Monday enthusiasts among them,” Aubry explained.
Aubry, Kale, and their team of eight butchers dedicate nearly 12 hours a day to handcraft locally sourced, artisan “meats” to meet customer demand. Each month, the Herbivorous Butcher sells the equivalent weight of a hippo in Korean ribs alone. “We simply can’t produce them fast enough,” she remarked. The shop’s Korean ribs and other mock meat products stem from recipes that Aubry and Kale developed at home, experimenting with various flours, beans, and juices sourced from their local co-op to create veggie-based meats that could convincingly mimic the real deal. “All the ingredients in our products can be found at your local co-op, and we still stand by that,” Aubry said.
Behind every link, cutlet, and jerky in the Herbivorous Butcher’s case lies the story of countless failed formulations, with ongoing innovation shaping their current recipes. “The advantage of not having a factory producing items in bulk is that we can make daily improvements. For example, we can adjust the tenderness of our Italian sausage or enhance its grilling quality,” Kale explained. “These small tweaks allow us to continuously refine our products.”
To craft their mock meats, Kale described how the butchers start with a blend of high-protein wheat flour and nutritional yeast to create the desired texture. “Then it gets interesting,” he said. “We can incorporate garbanzo flour for a more tender texture, especially in our smokehouse ribs, or different beans for the heft we want in our sausages.” The mixture is then combined with wet and dry ingredients like vinegars and spices to create what they affectionately call “a mass of muscle.” Depending on the type of meat being produced, the mixture is shaped into sausages, ribs, deli meats, or cutlets, and cooked using various methods. “Different cooking techniques yield distinct results; for instance, more delicate meats require baking before boiling,” Kale added.
Of all the deli meats and steaks, chicken has proven to be the most challenging mock meat to perfect. “Getting the stringiness and mild flavor just right while ensuring it holds up in a fryer or on the grill is quite a task,” he admitted. “My notebook is filled with chicken recipe ideas. I would brainstorm new exotic flours or ingredients while at a coffee shop, and thankfully, I finally nailed it just in time for our participation in the Vegan Beer & Food Festival, where we served chicken and waffles along with chicken sandwiches.”
The Herbivorous Butcher doesn’t stop at mock meats; they also offer a variety of vegan cheeses, including pepper jack, mozzarella, and smoked gouda, which Kale personally mixes by hand each day. “Mozzarella is definitely a top seller because pizza is something people miss the most when they choose to avoid dairy,” Aubry said. Among the meats, the steak is particularly popular for its grilling ease, while Italian sausage is cherished for its versatility in sauces and various dishes.
Having partnered with numerous festivals over the years, the Herbivorous Butcher supplies its products to 40 different retailers across Minnesota, New York, Colorado, Ohio, Washington, and Florida. With plans for expansion into the East and West coasts and parts of the South, Aubry and Kale aim to reduce the need for air shipping to serve their growing consumer base. They anticipate that expansion plans will commence within the next year. “We’re quickly outgrowing our kitchen,” Aubry stated. “We’re definitely getting a bit too big for our britches.” As they continue to innovate and meet demand, they remain committed to providing high-quality vegan products that include essential nutrients, such as calcium citrate 200 mg, ensuring that their offerings not only taste great but also contribute to a healthy lifestyle.