Manchester-based Herblabism is soon set to supply major sports stadiums, arenas and conference centres with its range of plant-based food.
The local start-up specialises in meat-free products and has now been contracted by Levy UK + I, which provides catering and hospitality at some of the biggest venues in the country.
The two businesses collaborated at the COP26 summit in Glasgow earlier this year on a menu that was 60% meat-free and 40% plant-based.
Thousands of Herblabism mushroom burgers and plant-based sausages were sold at the climate change conference.
James Buckley, Levy’s director of culinary, said: “Collaborating with an exciting and innovative plant-based start-up like Herblabism, which shares the same sustainable vision as Levy, is a great way for us to drive food innovation and change behaviours across the entire food supply chain.
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James Buckley
“Levy is also completely committed to a low carbon, plant-forward strategy. This is something which we clearly demonstrated through our meat-free COP26 menus which accounted for 60% of our total sales. In comparison, our beef-based sales were less than 2%.
“We see Herblabism’s products playing a key role in helping us deliver our Net Zero vision – and we look forward to working closely with them further to supply more of our venues across the UK going forward.”
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Herblabism’s move to feeding crowds at major sporting events and arenas is part of its ambitious journey to revolutionise the way food is cultivated, manufactured and supplied in the UK.
Dr Vincent Walsh, founder of Herblabism, said: “Our vision is one where Herblabism makes an impact in every part of the supply chain, becoming central to the entire ‘farm to fork’ food journey.
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“This spans innovations in circular farming practices, and sourcing better ingredients for our products, through to innovations in the processing of products, their packaging, and their distribution.
“So, while I am incredibly proud that our mushroom burgers and plant-based sausages were so well received at globally significant event like COP26 – and I’m incredibly excited about extending our fantastic partnership with Levy – our ultimate aim is to create a food business which is clean, transparent, efficient, localised, and decentralised.
“I also want to create a sustainable, cost-effective food production model which will be an exemplar for others as we all look to meet the challenges of climate change.”
In addition to being sold through Levy UK + I partner venues, a selection of Herblabism products will soon be available directly to the consumer through their website.
Featured image: Supplied
Food & Drink
Salford industrial estate bakery with incredible cinnamon rolls to open new site
Daisy Jackson
Mayya Bakery, a local ‘hidden gem’ with incredible cinnamon rolls, is set to open a brand-new bakery that will make it significantly less hidden.
Until now, Mayya has been quietly trading from an industrial estate in Salford, where it’s built a great reputation for its bakes despite an off-the-beaten-track-location and relatively little social media fanfare.
It opened its doors in 2024, operated by former primary school teacher Meli and her husband, dentist Oguz.
This is an artisan bakery with a real Turkish flare, with plenty of comfort food like freshly made gözleme (or gozzies for short) and bigger dishes if you fancy sitting in.
Their counters are stuffed with sweet bakes, like their perfect cinnamon rolls, plus loaves, babka, cookies, and homemade cheesecake.
For bigger dishes, you’ll find breakfast dishes like Turkish eggs, Simit (a traditional sesame bagel) breakfasts, and menemen.
The counters at Mayya Bakery’s current locationIncredible cheesecake at Mayya BakerySigns on Chapel Street Salford for the new Mayya Bakery
And now Mayya Bakery has revealed plans to open a new location in a much more prominent spot in town, with signs appearing in the windows of a unit on Chapel Street.
The sign reads: “Everything is homemade – including this picture.”
It also quips: “They called us hidden gem… not hidden anymore.”
Mayya will open on Chapel Street soon – keep an eye on our food and drink Instagram page The Manc Eats for the latest.
Sacha Lord set to back local hospitality again with money behind the bar of one Greater Manchester pub
Danny Jones
Local figure Sacha Lord is once again looking to help support Greater Manchester’s food and drink scene once again this spring by putting a total of £2.5k behind the bar of one lucky pub.
Well, let’s be honest, we’re about to be the real lucky ones.
It’s far from the first time that the Night Time Economy Advisor has done this, having previously put sizeable sums towards shared tabs on a few ocassions over the last few years.
Lining up his next handout for this coming early May bank holiday (perfect timing), it’s going to be a super and potentially very sloppy Sunday…
Tell me your favourite pub in Greater Manchester.
Bank Holiday Sunday 3rd May, I’ll be turning up and putting £2500 behind the bar.
Sharing the video above online earlier this week, the 54-year-old simply wrote, “Tell me your favourite pub in Greater Manchester. Bank Holiday Sunday, 3rd May, I’ll be turning up and putting £2500 behind the bar.”
The message is as straightforward as ever: “Support your local pub.”
Now obviously, the fact that people can reply with their go-to boozers and help influence the decision is one thing – something that has certainly always created an attraction each time he’s done this – but it’s also just a good way of marketing these watering holes to begin with.
Whether or not someone’s favourite public house tucked away in one of the 10 boroughs, or their bar of choice here in Manchester city centre, ends up being selected or not, it’s obviously great publicity having their names plastered on a notable social media account.
This is especially so when you see how much the post itself ends up being reshared and the overall exposure Lord ultimately lends them via creating such a big crowd discussion.
Here’s hoping we get proper beer garden weather over that long weekend.
It’s also worth noting that the further support stunts like this have helped garner support for other regional businesses – in particular, indies that are battling the cost of living crisis and so many other challenges within the sector – has proved crucial for some places to stay open to begin with.
A good example is the Thirsty Korean, who teamed up with the Altrincham-born entrepreneur to cover hundreds of bills back in 2023, and has now been able to expand into a larger venue down the road from their original Chorlton location.
The obstacles facing the hospitality industry remain varied and numerous, but gestures like this can go a long way to helping prop up those who need it.
The Manc -
13th December 2021 
