The Vegetarian Butcher joins forces with Vivera

New strong combination in plant-based

Holten, 20^th March 2025 – The Vegetarian Butcher and Vivera join forces. Vivera announces that it is taking over The Vegetarian Butcher from Unilever. The acquisition by the plant-based food company in Holten aligns with the ambitions of both companies to maximize their positive impact by making tasty and healthy alternatives for meat.

Vivera and The Vegetarian Butcher make a strong combination. They are two winning companies in the market that complement each other in many ways. The Vegetarian Butcher has a product portfolio in several supermarket categories and a strong position in the Foodservice and Quick Service Restaurant channels. Vivera has a strong position in the retail channel with an extensive assortment of products under both the Vivera brand and also Private Label. Furthermore Vivera has a wide range of technologies in house which are complementary to The Vegetarian Butcher.

Accelerate protein transition
The combination of The Vegetarian Butcher and Vivera will contribute to making the category of meat alternatives more mainstream and will help to increase the appeal to people who want to eat less meat. The two brands are complementary. Vivera-CEO Willem van Weede: “By combining these two companies we join forces to create a great purpose driven company with many talented and highly motivated people. Acceleration of the protein transition is more important than ever and we look forward to inspiring more people to eat more plant-based.” The Vegetarian Butcher -CEO Rutger Rozendaal: “We are very excited for The Vegetarian Butcher to be joining forces with Vivera, as it will bring the opportunity to combine our strengths and deliver even greater value to our partners and our consumers. This marks a significant step towards becoming one of the largest and most influential companies in the plant based industry, making us uniquely positioned towards further accelerating the global shift to tasty and healthy plant based solutions”.

Long term growth 
The market of meat alternatives is a dynamic market that, with some fluctuations over time, is characterized by solid underlying long-term growth. Vivera was one of the first companies to start producing vegetarian meat in 1990 and has built the market in those early phases in the Netherlands. In 2010 The Vegetarian Butcher started on World Animal Day under the inspiring leadership of Jaap Korteweg and this gave a strong new impulse to the market. The underlying drivers of wanting a healthier lifestyle, a better life for animals and a livable planet remain more relevant than ever and drive long term category growth. The primary rationale of both companies to join forces, is to accelerate the growth of meat alternatives in full force with our employees and customers. 

About The Vegetarian Butcher
The Vegetarian Butcher was founded in 2010 on World Animal Day by Jaap Korteweg with the aim of becoming the largest, most impactful Butcher in the world and thus removing all animals from the food chain. With the acquisition by Unilever in 2018, this has accelerated. The Vegetarian Butcher has now grown into a global brand that is available in 55 countries and has since removed more than 11 million animals from the food chain. With delicious and nutritious plant-based meat, The Vegetarian Butcher tells all meat lovers ‘Sacrifice nothing’. Not the taste, not the health, not the animal and not the planet.  

About Vivera
Vivera has been a pioneer in developing vegetarian and plant-based products since 1990. With its main site and headquarters in Holten the company with around 500 employees has grown to being in the top 3 of plant-based producers. Vivera’s products are available in more than 32.000 supermarkets in 25 European countries. Vivera became a part of JBS in 2021 as JBS has the vision that plant-based proteins have an important role in feeding the growing world population. JBS is delighted with this new strong combination in the plant-based sector in Europe. Vivera aims to inspire more people to eat more plant-based. All you have to do is to open your mind and take a first step to change your eating habits. That is why we say: Eat Openminded!

The binding offer is subject to the usual closing conditions, regulatory requirements, and consultation processes. Completion is expected by Q3 2025.  

Financial terms of the binding offer are undisclosed.

More information?
For questions, further information or interview requests please mail to  communications@vivera.com or call Isha van Egmond +31 (0)659838270 Mediatic: PR consultant.