Fast food from Freggies is sustainable and healthy: ‘I prefer to call it good food fast’

By Amy van de Wiel

Butcher’s son Mike Maduro founded start-up Freggies with the aim of producing plant-based snacks that are not only convenient but also healthy. Over the years, Maduro saw meat change from an artisanal to an industrial product being produced on an increasingly large scale. That had to be done differently, he thought.

Maduro’s mission is not to turn everyone into a vegan, even though he has become one himself over the years. Instead, he wants to market animal-free products for everyone who loves healthy food and wants to do their bit to make the world a better place. The snacks and meals are made from waste streams and other sustainable ingredients and are already on sale at several Jumbo supermarkets and Rotterdam catering outlets. In this instalment of Start-up of the day, Maduro talks to us in more detail about Freggies.

What does Freggies do exactly?

“Freggies is a product developer and producer of plant-based snacks, finger foods and meals, but actually I see us more as a promoter of healthy lifestyles. The products are meal kits that are easy to prepare. In other words, they are already pre-cooked and marinated and all you have to do is heat them up. In addition to being appetizing and convenient, our products are also healthy. I prefer to call it ‘good food fast’ instead of fast food.”

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What kind of products do you have in your range?

We started with the orginals: these are vegetable snacks made from legumes, Dutch beetroot and carrots. In the meantime, we also have challengers: they are similar to meat, like beef satay or teriyaki, but we deliberately do not try to imitate meat or even call it that. We don’t want to recreate meals that are known for their meat, but rather for the way they looks and the flavor they have. So for example, we call a product ‘Asian stripes’ instead of chicken strips. We don’t actually need to use an animal to name our food.”

Why choose unfamilar names for your products?

“I used to eat meat myself for years before I became vegan. When I still ate it, I really didn’t feel like a vega(n) schnitzel instead of a ‘regular’ one. I thought: that’s not a real schnitzel, so it probably doesn’t taste that great. So we don’t want to sell a ‘schnitzel’ but something tasty and crispy instead. Expectations are then very different.”

How do you stand out from the competition?

“We focus on the right kind of flavor and a matching mouthfeel, that is to say, how the product feels in your mouth. Because eating vegan is such a stretch for a lot of meat eaters, we look for different textures than the bulk of meat substitutes. We combine that with convenience in a healthy way. We don’t use flavor enhancers or lots of salt, but we do use a wide variety of herbs and spices. Our products are very high in fiber because we use a lot of innovative ingredients, such as fiber that is left over from the production of juice. We work with a juice producer who, in addition to pressing the vegetable juices, also processes the remaining fibers even further. The fibers are added directly to the Freggies or, for example, we also make a carrot crumble. That is a type of breadcrumb made from the carrot fibers left over after pressing. It’s nice and crispy and we use it to coat our crispy bites. So you get a crispy coating of vegetables this way.”

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Why doesn’t Freggies use animal products? Is plant-based better?

“No, it’s not better outright. Plant-based does not necessarily mean ‘healthy’: fat is fat and salt is salt. But when vegetables are the focal point of a meal, a world opens up to you in terms of taste, texture and seasoning. That’s what Freggies wants to show people. Also, vegetables sometimes only need a quarter of the raw materials compared to what are used in meat production. Also, meat production is technically very inefficient. In times when raw materials are becoming scarcer and more expensive, it is both technically and economically unwise to continue on this scale. I am not necessarily against eating meat, but I am against the scale and manner in which it is done. Profit comes at the expense of quality these days. While the animal’s life and state of mind has a huge influence on the quality of meat. The Netherlands keeps seven times as many chickens as legally recommended. If we did not keep so much livestock, we would run a much lower risk of bird flu and all kinds of other diseases.”

Do you have any good resolutions for 2023?

“So far, we have invested 75,000 euros, all from our own funds. I haven’t looked at external investors yet because we first had to figure out what our strengths are, what sets us apart and where our customers are and what they want. Now it’s time to take the plunge and look for an investor. So that’s a great resolution for next year.”