"Fuah! » of course: vegan foie gras is sold all over Spain

The company worked on the recipe for over a year, tweaking it 800 times. After being tested by more than 150 people, the plant-based version of foie gras was deemed ready for sale, triggering a modest delivery plan of 5,000 units to supermarkets and specialty stores before the holiday season. p>< p class="dcr-1b64dqh">Within 12 hours of its mid-December launch, units had sold out across Spain. The company rushed to restock and watched with awe as another 30,000 units fly off the shelves.

"We are absolutely amazed," said Javier Fernández , the founder of the Madrid-based company. start-up Hello Plant Foods. “Our plan was to start slow…but we just sevenfolded our production. It's crazy."

His offering – named Fuah! – is the latest entry into the nascent market of plant-based alternatives tackling a long-debated product : foie gras.

In Paris, chef Fabien Borgel launched his vegan version - called faux gras - two years ago, adding to the plethora of recipes that have emerged online in recent years.

Vegan offerings arrive as the animal product regularly makes headlines. King Charles reportedly told animal rights activists in November that foie gras would not be served at royal residences, while the US state of California as well as New York City have both sought to ban foie gras. product.

It was in this context that Fernández and his team began shaping their version of liver made with cashew nuts, coconut oil and of beet extract. The goal was to produce a hyper-realistic, plant-based version, Fernández said, one aimed at vegans and vegetarians but also meat eaters.

"There has a hidden consumer who loves liver. But what happens is a picture of the ducks with the tubes sticking out of them flashes in front of them and they don't...