Next Gen Foods wants to grow Chicago as a hub for the vegan and plant-based food scene, naming the city the home of its U.S. headquarters and opening its first U.S.-based research and development center in East Garfield Park.
Co-founder and CEO Andre Menezes started Next Gen Foods, the parent company behind Tindle, a plant-based chicken product, in Singapore in April 2020, before launching Tindle to consumers for the first time in March 2021.
In the 18 months since, Tindle chicken has found its way into more than 1,000 restaurants around the world, including some in Chicago.
Next Gen Foods will open its new research and development center in The Hatchery, a food and beverage incubator owned by the Industrial Council of Nearwest Chicago. The Hatchery will serve as the starting point for new product development and will help scale up Tindle into new U.S. markets.
“So if a new restaurant wants to start using Tindle chicken in their foods, the R&D lab will help ensure the product is infused with their seasonings, flavors, shapes, coating systems and more,” Menezes said at an opening event of the new lab at The Hatchery last week.
The Hatchery supports 54 private, early stage Chicago kitchens in a shared kitchen where they can test and launch their concepts.
Natalie Shmulik, the Indsturial Council of Nearwest Chicago chief strategy and incubation officer, said at the opening event that she was impressed with Tindle because of its commitment to taste, texture, sustainability and innovation.
Menezes said that Next Gen Foods selected Chicago as the home of its U.S. headquarters because of the city's expansive food ecosystem and the potential it holds for the future of the plant-based food industry.
In a conversation with the Chicago Business Journal last week, Catherine Merritt, named to Chicago Business Journal's Women of Influence 2022, said Chicago is a leader in the healthy food startup space.
While Chicago has long been known for its meat-loving traditions as the center of the country's meatpacking industry since the 1800s, Merritt has seen the rise of Chicago's healthy foods industry firsthand through her company Spool Marketing, which recently launched a new venture funding arm.
"We're working with a startup called 99 Counties, a meat brand that is going to be coming into market — and they are all about local, sustainable, regenerative agriculture," she said. "I think that food is a real catalyst for change and how food is produced, farmed and delivered, and I'm excited that we're able to play a part in that."
Serving Tindle to Chicago
One restaurant already serving Tindle to Chicago consumers is "I Can't Believe It’s Not Meat," which has locations in Hyde Park and Orland Park.
Larcia Chandler Baker first opened I Can't Believe It's Not Meat after she and her husband had become vegetarians and couldn't find anything to eat that they liked.
"Everything was flavorless and bland and I went into the kitchen and started 'veganizing' dishes and started tricking my family and friends. They would always say I can't believe it's not meat, and I was like that would be an amazing restaurant," Baker explained.
She thought she was going to open a small shop and cook "like three burgers a day" but soon had a line out the door.
Baker now uses Tindle for some of her menu items, such as her Nashville chicken sandwich made with homemade Nashville sauce, cole slaw, pickles and drizzled with spicy mayo. Or her crispy chicken club sandwich topped with lettuce, tomatoes, vegan bacon, sweet mustard and vegan mayo.
She said that Tindle is loved by both vegans and meat lovers.
“Literally 70% of our clientele is carnivores. We call them ‘flexitarians’," she said.
She plans to expand nationally with a third location outside Chicago and wants to become a "vegan McDonald's" eventually.
The restaurant just launched a Philly cheesesteak egg roll and is one of more than 15 locations across the city to be serving Tindle in less than six months. Others include 2d Restaurant, Native Foods, Parson's Chicken & Fish and more.
“We’re also looking into a food truck because I want to pull up in Englewood and serve vegan foods to a community that [may never think or be exposed] to vegan food but they get a taste of this chicken sandwich and they love it," Baker said. "We have hopes on serving impoverished communities where people would never imagined themselves eating vegan food."
