KFC or VFC? York duo sell Vegan Fried Chick*n for Veganuary

That stands for Vegan Fried Chick*n - and is coming to a finger-lickin' plate near you for Veganuary.

The meat-free fast food snack is the brainchild of York duo Matthew Glover and Adam Lyons.

Matthew is the businessman-turned-activist who together with his wife Jane Land launched the Veganuary movement in 2014 to encourage people to follow a plant-based diet.

Adam is the chef and restaurateur behind Source.

Launching his new Vegan Fried Chick*n Company, Matthew said: “This is where food meets activism. This is our sit-down protest.”

Matthew revealed the idea for the business came after he tried some of Adam's vegan fried chicken at Source in York and said it was "the best vegan fried chick*n I had ever tasted”.

He thought that if people just tried it, they would realise that factory farming and slaughter were not needed to get the taste and texture of meat.

VFC founders Matthew Glover and Adam Lyons

Inspired by Matthew, Adam took part in Veganuary and then, with the idea of VFC taking shape, Matthew took the chef inside a typical industrial chicken farm. “Adam had never thought too closely about how chickens were reared before then, and that visit was a game-changer for him. He went in as a fledgling vegan and came out one hundred per cent committed to getting VFC into the mainstream market.”

VFC is part of the York duo's new campaign against the factory farming of chickens.

The product is made from wheat protein, and is soya- and nut-free. It looks, tastes and pulls apart like chicken but is 100 per cent plant-based.

Vegan Fried Chick*n - available as a fillet or as bites

Adam added: “We’re not messing about. We’ve developed a fantastic product that looks, cooks and tastes like chicken, we’ve appointed an ambitious team, and we are ready to play our part in emptying those factory farm sheds. That’s what drives us on.”

There is a rich seam of activism running right through VFC’s branding.

Matthew said: “I am a businessman turned activist and VFC is very much a marriage of the two. There are many ways to dismantle unjust systems, and we intend VFC to be part of the movement that puts an end to factory farming for good.”

While they scale up, VFC will be available only online, but the York duo have appointed a sales director with the express aim of getting the products on to the high street as quickly as possible.

Veganuary founders Matthew Glover and his wife Jane Land photographed in their home town of York

Achieving price parity with animal-based chicken is another key priority, but their aim is to eventually make it cheaper.

The products available are:

• Bites & Fries, with a tangy barbecue sauce (original flavour; or spicy)

• VFC Bites (original; or spicy)

• VFC Fillets (original; or spicy)

VFC is available from VFC.co.uk