Feathers fly over chicken substitute
New Zealand’s poultry industry is laying a complaint against a company selling “chicken free chicken”, saying its marketing could be misleading.
Sunfed Meats, a popular new startup selling a chicken substitute made from pea protein, uses the word “meaty” in its labelling.
The company also markets its product as “chicken free chicken” and uses a picture of a chicken on its packaging.
The meatless meat is flying off shelves, selling out wherever it is stocked.
Its success has been so overwhelming its founder and chief executive, Shama Sukul Lee, has already announced she is looking to expand — into beef free beef and bacon free bacon.
But not everyone is so enthusiastic about what the company is selling.
The Poultry Industry Association New Zealand (PIANZ) said Sunfed’s labelling could be misleading for consumers and laid a complaint with the Commerce Commission.
PIANZ chief executive Michael Brooks said the association had made an “inquiry” about the labelling.
“It’s a picture of a chicken and it has a reference to ‘meaty’ — to meat.
“In our view, it’s a product that calls itself chicken-free chicken but had a picture of a chicken and refers to meat but has no meat.”
Brooks said it was possible this could confuse or mislead consumers and he had questions about whether it therefore complied with the Fair Trading Act.
He said PIANZ was not objecting to the product itself, just the labelling.
The commission confirmed it had received a complaint about “chicken f ree chicken” and a response was being reviewed.
Lee said that she t hought PIANZ was feeling threatened by a popular new company offer- ing an alternative product. “I guess we ruffled a few big feathers,” she said. The first Lee knew of the complaint was when she was contacted by media about it. She was not concerned about the complaint. “The whole reason we say chicken free chicken is because you can use it like chicken, it’s such a good description — it’s so clear. “It’s a nice, easy way to tell the consumer how to use this product.”
Tess Nichol