Quorn

Ownership history

Originally conceived in 1985 and owned by Marlow Foods, a joint venture between Rank Hovis McDougall (RHM) and Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI), RHM exited the business in 1990 by selling its shares to ICI. When ICI spun off its biological products divisions from the core chemical business in 1993, Marlow Foods became a part of the newly formed Zeneca group, later AstraZeneca.

In 2003, AstraZeneca sold Marlow Foods, including the Quorn business and associated trademarks and patents, to Montagu Private Equity for £72m. Montagu sold the business on to Premier Foods in 2005 for £172m.

In 2011, Premier Foods sold Quorn to Exponent Private Equity and Intermediate Capital Group for £205 million.

In 2015, the owners put the company up for sale via a business auction process. Attracting bidders including Danone, Kerry Group, McCain Foods and Nomad Foods, it was sold to Monde Nissin Corporation headquartered in the Philippines for £550m ($831m).

After its producer switched to using free-range eggs as an ingredient, the Vegetarian Society gave the product its seal of approval.

In 2004, McDonald's introduced a Quorn-branded burger bearing the seal of approval of the Vegetarian Society.

However, as of 2009, the Quorn burgers were no longer available at any McDonald's restaurant in the UK, and the McPlant was made using Beyond Meat. In 2011, Quorn Foods launched a vegan burger into the United States market, using potato protein as a binder instead of egg albumen, to confer vegan status.

According to Quorn's website, by 2020, a number of Quorn items were available in United States markets, many of which are vegan. They also have gluten-free options.

As of 2014, it was reported that most consumers of Quorn are meat eaters rather than vegetarians. As of 2018, the market for Quorn products was said to be increasing worldwide and the company expects further growth. However, six years on parent Monde Nissin is bleeding heavily on its investments on Quorn to the total tune so far of 40 billion Philippine pesos (equivalent to US$690 million).

Production

Quorn is made from the soil mould Fusarium venenatum strain PTA-2684 (previously misidentified as the parasitic mould Fusarium graminearum).

The fungus is grown in continually oxygenated water in large, otherwise sterile fermentation tanks. Glucose and fixed nitrogen are added as a food for the fungus, as are vitamins and minerals to improve the food value of the product. The resulting mycoprotein is then extracted and heat-treated to remove excess levels of RNA. Previous attempts to produce such fermented protein foodstuffs were thwarted by excessive levels of DNA or RNA; without the heat treatment, purines, found in nucleic acids, are metabolised by humans to produce uric acid, which can lead to gout.

The product is dried and mixed with egg albumen, which acts as a binder. It is then textured, giving it some of the grained character of meat, and pressed into a mince resembling ground beef; forms resembling chicken breasts, meatballs, and turkey roasts; or chunks resembling diced chicken breast. In these forms, Quorn has a varying colour and a mild flavour resembling the imitated meat product, and is suitable for use as a replacement for meat in many dishes, such as stews and casseroles.

The final Quorn product is high in protein and dietary fibre and is low in saturated fat. It contains less dietary iron than most meats and the manufacturers have not released much information about additives they use to make Quorn resemble meat. Quorn is considered acceptable in small amounts for babies over nine months old, but should be introduced gradually. The high fibre and low food energy content is better for adults than babies and too much fibre can cause flatulence. The salt content should be checked before giving Quorn to babies, since the salt content varies among products.

The carbon footprint of Quorn Frozen Mince in the UK is claimed to be at least 80% less than that of beef.

Quorn for the UK and European market is produced at Marlow's headquarters in Stokesley, North Yorkshire and at nearby Billingham in Stockton-on-Tees.

Vegan products

In late 2011, the first vegan Quorn product was released, called the Quorn Vegan Burger,

available initially only in the United States. Following strong sales of the product and increasing demand from the UK market, Quorn began development of a line of vegan products for the UK market, as well as reducing its use of eggs overall, using 3.5 million fewer eggs since 2010. The first range of vegan Quorn in the UK included eight products and was launched in October 2015.

In January 2019, Quorn produced the filling for a vegan sausage roll sold by UK bakery chain Greggs. The product was consistently sold out, and was identified by the chain as a major contributor to increasing profits and a record share price. In January 2020, Greggs released a Quorn-based vegan "steak bake".

and by 2004 all of their UK products were free of battery eggs, earning the Vegetarian Society's seal of approval.

An asthma attack in 2003 was linked to Quorn. Tests showed Quorn to be the only food to which the patient had an allergic reaction. A spokesperson for the Food Standards Agency stated that an allergy was not surprising, due to the high protein content.

Former FSA director Jon Bell responded in defence of Quorn, stating that several commonly consumed foods and food ingredients, such as soya, have a much higher intolerance level than Quorn. Adverse reactions were reported for 1 in 146,000 people who ate Quorn, compared to 1 in 35 who ate shellfish and 1 in 350 who ate soya.