Fry Group Foods

Wally Fry is a vegan convert who once ate meat and traded livestock for a living.[1][2] 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][5] 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][3][5] Since inception, the company has also advocated for a plant-based diet via public awareness campaigns including Meat-Free Monday and Veganuary.[2][3]

In 1998 the company began exporting its meat substitutes from South Africa to Australia, where its headquarters have been based since 2014.[1][2] As of 2018 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][2][3]

The product range initially consisted of only a handful of basics including sausages, hot dogs, and burger patties.[1][5] As of 2018 it has expanded to include more than 35 products that resemble various meat products—including schnitzels, sausage rolls, chicken nuggets, mince, and polony—which are made without any meat, egg, or dairy ingredients.[1][2][4] 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]

• List of meat substitutes

• Fry Family Foods – Product FAQs