Our Story 我們的經歷與旅程

1962

On the 11th of September 1962 a boy was born on a farm in the province West-Brabant of the Netherlands: Jaap Korteweg. He seems to have been born to take over his parents farming business (8th generation farmers and pastoralists) and he does, but he switches to an organic agricultural system.

1962年9月11日，一個小男孩在荷蘭西布拉邦省某個畜牧農場出生，他就是Jaap Korteweg。荷蘭畜牧農業世家第9代傳⼈：畜牧世家出⾝的他在接管了父母的畜牧農場之後，決定加以改革，引入有機農業系統。

1998

The outbreak of the swine fever in 1998 caused at least one person to become a vegetarian. Jaap Korteweg, organic farmer, decides to refrain from eating animals. However, he keeps craving the taste, the bite and the texture of meat.

He gets in touch with producers of vegetable protein and scientists to take meat substitutes to the next level. Together with innovative chefs, he works on processes to capture the flavour of beef, pork and chicken in vegetarian products that are of at least the same, if not better, quality as the original.

1998年豬瘟爆發，令Jaap Korteweg成為素食者，但他卻因為找不到足以取代肉類獨有味道口感的完美替代食品而感到苦惱。

於是，Jaap Korteweg決意將現有肉類替代食品推向更高層次。他找來科學家、植物蛋白生產商，又與風格創新的廚師合作，致力以植物產品重現牛肉、豬肉和雞肉的風味，力求研發出媲美肉類，甚至更好的風味。

2010

On World Animal Day 2010, The Vegetarian Butcher is founded in The Hague. A modern style traditional butcher, where the only thing being slaughtered, is prejudice.

2010年世界動物日，The Vegetarian Butcher植系肉 於海牙成立。這個與時並進的屠場，決意只屠宰一樣東西「對於植物肉的偏見」。

2011

Ferran Adrià( El Bulli, Barcelona) and a team of master chefs try our ‘meat’ made of legumes. They applaud the substitute: “This is more tender than pork and juicier than chicken!”

An increasing amount of greengrocers, certified butchers and fresh product specialists are becoming The Vegetarian Butcher retailers.

We are awarded the 2011 “Triodos Bank Hart-Hoofd” prize for ‘most innovative and inspiring company’.

Ferran Adrià（來自位於巴塞隆拿的El Bulli）與一眾頂級廚師團隊初嘗用豆類蔬菜製成的「肉」之後，不禁大讚：它比豬肉更軟嫩，比雞肉更多汁！

受到廣泛認可，越來越多的蔬果商、認可肉店和新鮮食品專賣場都成為了 The Vegetarian Butcher植系肉 的零售商。

2011年，更榮獲Triodos Bank Hart-Hoofd頒發「Most innovative and inspiring company」獎項。

2012

Collaboration with Dutch supermarkets is a fact! As of now, all Coops, Ekoplazas and Jumbo supermarkets offer The Vegetarian Butcher products.

In a feature article in the New York Times, culinary columnist Mark Bittman wonders: "Why, in other words, use the poor chicken as a machine to produce meat when you can use a machine to produce ‘meat’ that seems like chicken?"

On the front page of NRCnext: “Preferring fake chicken over speed-bred chicken”. We’re taking the ‘meat’ out of meatballs! The poultry sector doesn’t like how The Vegetarian Butcher is “riding the wave of chicken’s good reputation” and files a complaint with the Food and Consumer authority about the product names. Even parliament questions the matter. The names are adjusted, proving that the flavour and structure of meat has been hacked and that vegetables could be the new meat.

終於與荷蘭的超市合作了！大型超級市場如 Coops、Ekoplazas以及Jumbo都開始發售The Vegetarian Butcher的產品。

此同時，美食專欄作家Mark Bittman在《紐約時報》的一篇專題文章中提出了以下疑問：「為什麼還要利用可憐的雞隻，當作生產食用肉的機器？」

另一個媒體NRCnext，更以頭版表明：「選擇人造雞，也不選擇量產繁殖雞」。

這一年，我們成功造出沒含有肉的「肉丸」，同時保存它原有的風味！然而，家禽業界並不認同我們借用雞肉之名解釋產品特性，他們向食品及消費者管理局投訴我們的產品名稱，甚至連議會也對此事提出質疑。最後，產品名稱亦經過調整，這證明了植物肉擁有著與動物肉抗衡的能力，有潛力成為新時代的「肉」！

Our chef develops Fish-free Eel Salad, which is awarded the title of “Tastiest product of the year”  at De Smaak van Nederland.

Export to Portugal. Within two years we gain 30 POP/retailers in a country with only 30,000 vegetarians.

The Vegetarian Butcher reaches the Nima Marketing Awards finals.

The “Most animal-friendly company of the year!” award is established by PETA, especially for The Vegetarian Butcher.

Nick & Simon Dutch singer-songwriter duo and eel lovers, on the television show “Life 4 You”, fooled with vegetarian eel salad: “We completely fell for it."

我們的廚師研發了Fish-free Eel Salad，在De Smaak van Nederland獲得了 「Tastiest product of the year」的美譽。

我們的產品更出口到葡萄牙！在這個只有30,000名素食者的國家，我們竟在兩年之內擴展了30個銷售點！

憑著銷售佳績，The Vegetarian Butcher植系肉 打入了Nima Marketing Awards決賽。此外，PETA特別為我們頒授了「Most animal-friendly company of the year!」獎項。

據說荷蘭唱作歌手Nick＆Simon二人都是鰻魚愛好者，他們在電視節目《Life 4 You》特別提到Fish-free Eel Salad，公開表示「我們完全愛上了它」！

2013

Launch of the NoBeef Burger in Paris. The traditional hamburger finally has a serious vegetarian challenger that can hold its own when compared to the original in all aspects, but is 7 times more sustainable.

JWT Intelligence marketers spot The Vegetarian Butcher as the worldwide promoter of a vegetarian trend making its definite breakthrough in 2013.

Partnership with Delhaize is a fact, allowing us to launch our products in Belgium.

The Dutch consumer association (Consumentenbond) praises our Vegan Chicken Chunks: “The Vegetarian Butcher is clearly the winner, delicious and tastes just like chicken. And in terms of nutritional value, it even surpasses chicken.

當我們在巴黎推出植系牛肉漢堡，市場上終於出現了可與傳統漢堡一較高下的植系肉漢堡。植系牛肉漢堡無論在任何方面，都不比傳統漢堡遜色；在可持續發展性方面，甚至比傳統漢堡好上7倍！

在2013年，我們取得飛躍性的突破 -- JWT Intelligence的營銷人員將 The Vegetarian Butcher植系肉 視為全球素食趨勢的推動者。

我們更與Delhaize合作，在比利時推出 The Vegetarian Butcher植系肉 產品。

而荷蘭消費者協會（Consumentenbond）對我們的植系雞肉也是讚賞有加：「The Vegetarian Butcher植系肉 顯然是贏家。它擁有雞肉的美味，而且在營養價值方面超過了雞肉。」

Our chef takes third place in the, Dutch newspaper, Telegraaf’s battle for the Gouden Gehaktbal (Golden Meatball) against 44 other participants all of which use real meat.

Our burger is settling in nicely in the Dutch consumer market: Dutch retail chain HEMA starts selling our NoBeef Burger in all its restaurants. Museums follow next!

Together with ‘Natuur & Milieu’ and ‘de Postcodeloterij’ we launch the Flexitarian campaign. 500,000 people are given a free box of Vegan Chicken Chunks or our Vegetarian Meatball!

荷蘭報紙《Telegraaf》舉辦了battle for the Gouden Gehaktbal（Golden Meatball）比賽。我們的廚師與44位使用動物肉的參與者進行較量，最後獲得季軍殊榮！

同期，我們打入荷蘭消費市場的工作進行得如火如荼：荷蘭零售連鎖店HEMA已開始在其所有餐廳發售植系⽜⾁漢堡，博物館內的餐廳亦緊隨其後。

我們全年馬不停蹄，再與“ Natuur＆Milieu”和“ de Postcodeloterij”合作推出Flexitarian企劃， 免費贈送出合共500.000盒植系雞肉及植系肉丸！

2014

Our transparent packaging is replaced by cardboard freezer boxes.

Consumentengids (Consumer association  Magazine): Our NoBeef Burger is awarded the highest rating of all vegetarian burgers: ‘A delicious herby flavour and appealing aroma.’

The Vegetarian Butcher Jaap Korteweg shares his story at TEDX Ede.

我們的舊透明包裝，已由全新的紙皮保冷盒取替。

Consumentengids（消費者組織雜誌）指出：我們的植系牛肉漢堡在所有素食漢堡中評分最高，擁有「令人食指大動的香草味道和誘人香氣」。

同年，The Vegetarian Butcher植系肉 創辦人Jaap Korteweg在TEDX Ede上分享了他的故事。

You'll find our Fish-free Tuna Salad on the menu at Bagels & Beans.

Our award cabinet gains a trophy: The Veggie Bite Award; the Vegan Award for being ‘Vegan Friendly'.

從這一年開始，你可以在Bagels & Beans的菜單上找到我們的Fish-free Tuna Salad。

我們的努力再次為獎杯櫃增添了一個獎項：The Veggie Bite Award -- 被冠以"Vegan Friendly"的一個純素食主義獎項。

2015

Successful crowdfunding campaign for the construction of our new facility: within three weeks we collect 2.5 million!

Jaap Korteweg won the award for “Entrepreneur of the Year 2015”.

On November first, we organized a Kick Off Party in our new factory for all our fans, partners and stakeholders. During this event we also introduced World’s first plant-based Steak in collaboration with Wageningen University (WUR).

為了建設新工廠，我們發起了眾籌活動。結果，三週內便成功籌集了250萬美元！

11月1日，我們在新工廠舉行了開幕派對，與支持者、合作夥伴和所有相關人士共渡歡樂時光。在這場活動中，我們更與Wageningen University （WUR）共同發表了世界上第一個「植系肉牛排」！

值得高興的事還有：我們的創辦人Jaap Korteweg榮獲了「2015年度企業家」獎項！

2016

We opened our first international concept store in Berlin.

We received many prizes in 2016!

Here is the list:

• We won the “Sustainable Week Utrecht Award” in the category Retail.

• Our NoChicken Chunks were awarded as “Best Vegan product” during the Vegan Awards 2016.

• PETA handed us the award for “Most Caring Company”.

• We received the “Corporate 4 Animals 2016 Award” of the Eurogroup for Animals.

• Jaap Korteweg received the award for “EY Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year 2016”!

2016年，我們在柏林開設了第一間概念店。

這一年，同時是獎項的豐收年！

所獲獎項如下：

•「Sustainable Week Utrecht Award」的零售類別獎

• 植系雞⾁在the Vegan Awards 2016中被評為「Best Vegan product」

• PETA向我們頒發了「Most Caring Company award」

• 歐洲動物組織授予我們「Corporate 4 Animals 2016 Award」

• Jaap Korteweg榮獲殊榮：「EY Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year 2016｣

Together with UNOX we introduced “Vegetarian Meatballs in satay sauce"!

1 out of 6 Sausage Rolls sold at AH to Go every day is ours!

Introducing a wide range of vegan and vegetarian lunch meat at Albert Heijn Supermarket

Our Bratwurst gets international appeal by the awards for “Best Banger” in Leeds and “Best Vegetarian BBQ Product” in Belgium

我們與UNOX合作推出了「Vegetarian Meatballs in satay sauce」！

而在Albert Heijn Supermarket，我們亦推出了一系列多樣化的冷凍植系肉。

每天，在AH出售的6分之一香腸卷都是我們的產品。

我們憑著Bratwurst獲得了列斯的「Best Banger」獎，以及比利時的「Best Vegetarian BBQ Product」獎，可見The Vegetarian Butcher植系肉 的產品在國際間亦相當具有吸引力！

2017

The jury of the New Food Challenge chose The Vegetarian Butcher as one of the eight finalists to develop a new meat substitute. In our case it was vegan braised meat.

The food revolution is expanding: The Vegetarian Butcher is founded in Israel, Greece and Finland.

The Vegetarian Butcher is named Marketing Scale Up Company of the Year and receives the Agrofood award from the province of Noord-Brabant in The Netherlands.

在The New Food Challenge 中，我們以新時代肉類替代品身份參賽，並以純植系燉肉獲得了評審團的青睞，打入八強！

不止如此，The Vegetarian Butcher植系肉 已陸續擴展到以色列、希臘和芬蘭，逐漸擴大整個食品革命版圖；同時，更被評為Marketing Scale Up Company of the Year；獲得了荷蘭諾德·布拉班特省的「Agrofood award」！

"More success follows: Jaap Korteweg reaches number two in the Sustainable top 100 of newspaper Trouw. "Jaap Korteweg shows how to make sustainability attractive for a large group [...]."

The Spring Roll from The Vegetarian Butcher comes out best with a blind test by newspaper the Algemeen Dagblad, whilst rating meat based spring rolls. Our Satay Rolls were also awarded and were named the 'PETA Vegan Food Awards Winner' in the category Best Vegan Sandwich!

A collaboration with the British premium supermarket chain Waitrose follows, replacing animal meat in traditional meat dishes.

在報紙《Trouw》舉辦的「The Sustainable top 100｣中，The Vegetarian Butcher植系肉 創辦人Jaap Korteweg排名第二。The Vegetarian Butcher植系肉 的產品讓大眾明白，原來可持續發展也可以這麼吸引！

真材實料使我們持續取得更大的成就：《Algemeen Dagblad》日報舉辦了一場盲測試味實驗。結果顯示，我們的春卷表現最好，甚至比動物肉製成的春卷更為美味。此外， 我們的Satay Rolls更成為了Best Vegan Sandwich類別中的「PETA Vegan Food Awards Winner」 !

獲得如此驕人成績之後，我們乘勢與英國高級超市連鎖店Waitrose合作，推出更多的植系肉菜式，取代傳統動物肉。

2018

On April 1 2018 The Vegetarian Butcher opened its own restaurant! One of the first vegetarian restaurants in the world where vegetable meat is the main focus. We are welcoming carnivores, omnivores, herbivores and flexivores for lunch and dinner. A place – situated in The Hague - where a new era, that of meat without animals, is ushered in tastefully.

Vegan NoChicken Chunks, vegan NoChicken Nuggets, NoBeef Burger and Little Willies (Lincolnshire Sausages) are available at Waitrose. More great news from the UK follows: Waitrose Vegetarian Green Thai Curry with The Vegetarian Butcher's vegan NoChicken Chunks wins a PETA UK Vegan Food Award!

2018年4月1日，The Vegetarian Butcher植系肉 開設了自己的餐廳！作為全球首批主打植系肉的素食餐廳，無論午餐和晚餐時段，都歡迎所有肉食愛好者、素食愛好者、隨意素食者蒞臨用餐！這個位於海牙的小地方，迎來了一個劃時代的植系肉新紀元！

現時，Waitrose已有提供我們的植系雞肉、植系雞塊、植系牛肉漢堡以及植系香腸。其他來自英國的好消息還有：Waitrose使用植系雞肉烹調的「純素泰式綠咖哩」贏得了PETA「UK Vegan Food Award」！

Together with New York Pizza we developed a 100% vegan pizza, with a topping of vegan NoChicken Shawarma. Of every sold vegan pizza, a euro was donated to Sea Shepherd. The success of the launch resulted in a donation by New York Pizza of over € 59,213 to Sea Shepherd’s Shark Defense Campaign.

The Vegetarian Butcher is a newcomer in 'the Inspiring 40' by Synergie, ranked as one of the eight most inspiring organizations in the Netherlands (top 3: Ikea, Tesla and Apple).

Unilever acquired The Vegetarian Butcher. With this acquisition, Unilever responds to the growing trend among consumers to increasingly opt for vegetarian and vegan meals.

For The Vegetarian Butcher, the acquisition is the next step in its ambition to grow into ‘the largest butcher in the world’. “We want to conquer the world,” said founder Jaap Korteweg: “Unilever’s international network across 190 countries, provides every opportunity to accomplish this.”

我們與New York Pizza聯手推出了100％純素披薩，將植系肉製成的NoChicken Shawarma作為饀料鋪在上面。每出售一個披薩，我們就會向Sea Shepherd捐出1歐元。自計劃成功推出以來，New York Pizza已經向Sea Shepherd「保護鯊魚運動」捐贈了超過59,213歐元。

除了合作活動，The Vegetarian Butcher植系肉 更獲Synergie評選為荷蘭八大最具啟發性的組織，與Ikea, Tesla以及Apple一眾知名品牌擠身「the Inspiring 40」行列。

而最矚目的大事，當然是Unilever收購The Vegetarian Butcher 植系肉 。通過此次收購，Unilever積極以產品回應市場不斷增長的植系肉需求。對於The Vegetarian Butcher植系肉 來說，這次收購是實現宏大理想的第一步，而這個理想就是：「(取代肉商，)成為世界上最大的植系肉供應商。」創辦人Jaap Korteweg直言：「我們想征服世界。而Unilever多達190個國家/地區的國際網絡，正為實現這一目標提供了絕佳機會。」

2019

Within a year after opening, The Vegetarian Butcher Restaurant De Vleesch Lobby (The Meat Lobby) was chosen to be the ‘Nicest Restaurant’ of The Hague! Within the province South Holland, our restaurant ended up third with an astonishing 9.4 (out of 10) review on average.

The millionth vegan Satay Roll flew off the shelves at Dutch supermarket Albert Heijn! The vegan roll, that was introduced in 2017, turns out to be a huge success within a wide range of meat lovers; from carnivore to vegan. Jurre found the golden ticket that was hidden in the package and won delicious prizes.

The Vegetarian Butcher is the Coolest Dutch Brand 2018! After multiple rounds and assessments by an expert jury, we won the title in the finale competing against Vandebron and Tony’s Chocolonely, with an incredible 77% of the votes.

There's even more! We win the FoodQualityAward from FoodPersonality. The jury: "The Vegetarian Butcher is a company that has really changed the world."

開業一年，The Vegetarian Butcher Restaurant De Vleesch Lobby（The Meat Lobby）便被評選為海牙「Nicest Restaurant」！ 在南荷蘭省內，我們的餐廳更獲得了驕人成績：排名第三，得分9.4分（滿分10分）。

荷蘭大型超市Albert Heijn推出了上百萬個純植系肉Satay Roll！Satay Roll自2017年推出以來，便深受肉食愛好者至純素食主義者廣泛愛戴，更取得了驚人成績。值得一提的是，幸福顧客Jurre在包裝中找到了隱藏抽獎券，贏得了滋味獎品！

The Vegetarian Butcher植系肉 可說是2018年最有型的荷蘭品牌！經過專業評審團多次投選評估，我們在決賽以77％高票率勝出，贏過Vandebron and Tony’s Chocolonely，取得冠軍頭銜。

我們還在FoodPersonality贏得了「FoodQualityAward」，而評審團更給予了我們如此評價：「The Vegetarian Butcher植系肉 是一家真正能夠改變世界的企業。」