| Fry Group Foods (Pty) Ltd | |
| Trade Name: | The Fry Family Food Co. |
| Type: | Private |
| Industry: | Food |
| Predecessors: | --> |
| Successors: | --> |
| Founded: | in Durban, South Africa |
| Hq Location City: | Durban |
| Hq Location Country: | South Africa |
| Areas Served: | Worldwide |
| Key People: | Wally Fry (Founder)Tammy Fry (Co-Founder)Debbie Fry (Founder)Hayley Fry (Co-Founder) |
| Products: | Meat analogues |
| Brands: | Fry's |
| Production: | 40 tons per day |
| Production Year: | 2018 |
| Profit: | --> |
| Profit Year: | --> |
| Owners: | --> |
| Num Employees: | 400 |
| Num Employees Year: | 2018 |
Fry Group Foods is a manufacturer of vegan meat substitutes founded by South Africans Wally and Debbie Fry in 1991.[1] [2] In March 2020 it joined LIVEKINDLY Collective, the global plant-based food company.
Wally Fry is a vegan convert who once ate meat and traded livestock for a living.[1] He decided to follow the example of his vegetarian wife Debbie and daughter Tammy after observing the inhumane conditions in a working pig farming facility built by his own construction firm. The couple created meat substitutes in their Durban home for personal consumption to help Wally adapt to his new meat-free diet.[1] [3] Due to growing demand from others, they eventually registered a company to manufacture meat substitutes on a commercial scale in 1991. As public demand for vegan food in South Africa was marginal at the time, the company had to innovate as a manufacturer in a new market.[1] [4] [3] Since inception, the company has also advocated for a plant-based diet via public awareness campaigns including Meat-Free Monday and Veganuary.[4]
In 1998 the company began exporting its meat substitutes from South Africa to Australia, where its headquarters have been based since 2014.[1] its frozen food products, which are manufactured in a custom-built factory in Durban and by a contractor in Cornwall, are sold by supermarket chains and other retailers in over 30 countries.[1] [5] [4] In 2020 the brand became part of the stable of plant-based food brands under LIVEKINDLY Collective - opening up its export market potential. Currently its biggest markets are South Africa, UK and Australia.
The product range initially consisted of only a handful of basics including sausages, hot dogs, and burger patties.[1] [3] it has expanded to include more than 40 products —including schnitzels, sausage rolls, chicken-style nuggets, stir-fry strips, pea protein mince, plant-based popcorn (chick'n style), polony and more—which are made without any meat, egg, or dairy ingredients.[1] [5] [2] The unpatented plant-based meat substitutes are made from legumes, grains, natural flavourings, and spices, and do not contain any genetically modified ingredients.[6] [7]
Fry Group Foods has won numerous awards for its products. It received the 2010 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award (Emerging category) from the Ernst & Young South Africa chapter,[4] [6] the 2013 Green Lifestyle Award for Food (Company),[9] the 2016 Food Bev SETA Gold Award (Medium Companies category),[10] and the 2017 Anuga Taste Innovation Award for Soy and Flaxseed Schnitzel.[5] [3] It was the recipient of the VegfestUK Award for Best Vegan "Meat" in 2017,[3] 2018,[11] [12]