Four’N Twenty brand owner says meat-free Aussie pies, sausage rolls a big success, plans more plant-based food

The company behind iconic Aussie pies Four’N Twenty says meat-free alternatives have proven a big hit as it rolls out more plant-based delectibles.

The manufacturer behind what is arguably Australia's most iconic meat pie brand says its plant-based experiment has proven a roaring success, so it plans to expand the range, encouraged by expectations veganism, vegetarianism and flexitarianism will continue to surge.

Patties Foods launched Four’N Twenty’s first ever meat-free pie and sausage roll last year, and now sells plant-based offerings across its other brands including Herbert Adams and Nanna’s.

The company has doubled the number of products without meat in its savouries portfolio over the past two years – and sales of those products have more than doubled in that time.

Patties also recently relaunched its Ruffie Rustic Foods frozen meals range as entirely plant-based, removing meat content.

General manager of marketing and innovation Anand Surujpal said Patties was previously an entirely meat-based operation but had listened to consumers’ changing preferences, recognising its well-established best-sellers needed to be complemented by products catering to those who wanted more vegetable nutrition in their diet.

It was a savvy commercial move, broadening Patties’ consumer base and contemporising the brand.

“A few years ago, we starting seeing research showing 53 per cent were reducing or eliminating meat from their diet,” Mr Surujpal told NCA NewsWire.

General manager of marketing and innovation Anand Surujpal with former AFL footballer and Four'N Twenty ambassador Jonathan Brown. One-in-three spectators at MCG sporting matches eat a pie, according to Patties Foods.

It took a lot of work, including “endless consumer testing” to get the taste profile and texture right, he said.

Initially, soy-based ingredients were “quite chewy” and “felt artificial” but now Patties believes it has nailed the mouthfeel.

Ensuring pastry didn’t become soggy from moist plant-based contents was also a challenge.

Mr Surujpal said the Ruffie Rustic “Butter Chicken-less” meal was so poultry-like, shoppers phoned to insist it must contain meat.

“We have to convince them,” he laughed.

While some veggie-lovers enjoyed “mock” meat meals, others didn’t want food that even slightly resembled anything carnivorous, so other products didn’t even pretend to be anything other than plant-based, with Herbert Adams’ vegetable Korma curry pie a top-seller.

Vegan-friendly finger foods had also proved highly successful and become a staple of Patties’ portfolio, Mr Surujpal said.

But the most successful recent addition had been the meat-free pie and sausage rolls, he said.

The traditional Aussie meat pie was “still the heartland” but now vegan and vegetarian footy goers could tuck into an alternative while sitting next to their meat-eating mates at a stadium and “feel more included”, Mr Surujpal said.

“It’s iconically Australian.”

He said there was massive opportunity in the plants-based foods business and Patties was continually evolving to make the most of it.