“…people were treating us like two crazy guys from Spain that were trying to change something in a country that loves meat... And now we see in these supermarkets, our product there… it’s crazy.
I get very emotional when I think about that day that with Marc. We were working in a library for free because we did not have money to pay for an office. We just had this idea. We had these first prototypes for a product… let's try to sell it in few shops and let's see the feedback. And now we are in more than 3000 points of sale, more than 10 countries. And, what's coming is big. It's huge.” – Bernat Añaños
Bernat Añaños is the co-founder of the Spanish plant-based startup, Heura by Foods for Tomorrow.
Bernat and Marc Coloma founded Heura in 2017 with the goal of disrupting the unsustainable food system by bringing a solution that will accelerate the shift to a world where the animals are out of the meat production equation. Since they launched, Heura has become the fastest growing European startup in the plant-based industry, with 450% growth this year despite the pandemic.
4 years ago, Bernat and Marc could not get their products into supermarkets. That’s because people were unwilling to believe that meat loving Spain would ever embrace plant-based products. But, like in every other country where it was assumed that the public would be resistant to plant-based foods, especially in chain restaurants and grocery stores, the assumptions were wrong. Heura’s products are now sold at over 3000 locations (grocery stores, restaurants, and online) and they’ve expanded into ten other countries with many more coming.
“I'm seeing a huge change. And the good thing is that it's not just in Barcelona and Madrid. It's also happening in villages and small cities. …my grandma, for example, she does not even eat meat anymore and she is using Facebook to introduce Heura to her 80 year old friends… and the response of these 80 year old friends of my grandma, it's crazy… I think we are on the right path… We were and we still are a meat lover’s country, but maybe… it's a plant-based meat lover’s country in very few years. “ - Bernat Añaños
