More and more consumers say they want to eat more healthfully and add more vegetables to their diets.
At the same time, most aren’t willing to become full-time vegetarians or vegans. For those who want to mix it up but don’t want to give up meat entirely, blended products — part meat, part vegetables or other non-meat foods — are becoming an increasingly attractive option, with new innovations strengthening the category and bringing formerly wary eaters on board.
Phil’s Finest got off to an auspicious start, not only appearing on the TV show Shark Tank but getting seed money from one of the Sharks (the company was then known as Misfit Foods).
Started in co-founder and CEO Phil Wong’s college kitchen, Phil’s Finest foods blend beef and chicken with vegetables including carrots, scallions, cauliflower, onions, sweet potatoes and kale. As it did with the Shark Tank judges, Phil’s Finest tailors its pitch to retailers and consumers around three main points:
Abundant nutrition
“Half vegetables, you say? When you pair healthy and delicious, what more could you need?”
Better quality
“We only ever use humanely-raised chicken and grass-fed, grass-finished beef.”
More sustainable
“Our future isn’t meat-less, but it is less-meat. Doing better for the planet can be delicious.”
"We believe there’s room for both meat and vegetables on our plates — and when you unite them with mouthwatering spices, delicious things happen.”
—Phil Wong
