Target reached!
WOW!! Thank you so much for the support, we're both SO thrilled to have reached our ...
Project Jackfruit - Vegan, Ethical, Independent
Birmingham, England, United Kingdom
Aim
Bringing the UK's 1st ethical, convenient and 100% vegan, saucy jackfruit to the masses!
Hi! We're Abi and Jordan and we are the duo behind Project Jackfruit.
We met in Falmouth whilst at university and then swapped the sea for the tubes and the familiar sounds of the 'gulls for honks and beeps, when we made our way to London to follow professional careers in fashion photography and advertising. After a year in the big smoke we felt unfulfilled and had a burning desire to do something bigger to help people and the planet. So, we packed our bags, left the city and decided to push the incredible jackfruit into the British market after months and months of tinkering with it, tweaking our recipes and having to eat absolutely loads of it...
Jackfruit is relatively unknown but its popularity is rising rapidly. Veganism and people choosing to eat less meat is increasing; in fact, in the UK alone, veganism has risen 360% in a decade yet there are very few healthy meat replacement products on the market that aren't heavily processed.
When cooked young, the texture of jackfruit is uncannily like pulled meat, it is fibrous and flavourless- making it the perfect addition to almost any meal as it takes on the flavours of whatever you cook it with. We have 4 flavours of jackfruit we make from scratch, All American BBQ, The Nutty Satay, Jerkpocalypse and The East Beast. There's no ready to eat jackfruit convenience option in the UK, which means we will be the first.
Our All American BBQ, The Nutty Satay and The East Beast Jackfruit
We're on a mission to change the way we eat and provide a sustainable, natural, allergen-free tasty plant-based meat alternative to a growing market that is demanding it; the plant-based 'alternative' industry is worth $4 billion annually and that's rising year on year.
Hold up, sounds good. But what the heck is jackfruit?
It's a revolution on your plate. We use just an 'unripe' fruit, fry it in our own spice mixes and then create all of our sauces from scratch and then slow cook it and pack it.
We're gluten-free, we avoid preservatives and wonky, eye-twitching, scientific-sounding ingredients like 'sodium benzoates.' Instead we use only natural ingredients.
The fruit is even considered a 'miracle crop' as it grows naturally in such a huge abundance, has high yield and even survives in droughts. And its nutritional credentials are also impressive: researchers have suggested it could replace wheat, corn, and other staple crops that may come under threat because of climate change. It is a rich source of vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, carbohydrate, electrolytes, fibre, fat and protein. This fruit has no cholesterol or saturated fats.
Our mission is to make jackfruit a readily available convenience option, to help prevent climate change, stop waste and to work closely with suppliers to increase the pay to a fair rate for the farmers.
- A staggering 75% of jackfruit in India alone goes to waste. We can help create a use and supply chain or infrastructure to prevent this.
- Wages are terrible there. The daily minimum wage (with local cost of living allowance included) varied from 197 rupees ($2.89) in Bihar to 447 rupees ($6.57) in Delhi. We can provide jobs and create our own 'Fairtrade' supply of jackfruit for the UK and global market.
Our Crowdfunder goals
We've already invested into Project Jackfruit as much as we can ourselves but we still need a little more help to really get it off the ground. We're travelling around the country going to vegan fairs and festivals but we want to get our jackfruit to you - no matter where you are. That means independent shops across the country and then, hopefully, supermarkets.
The money raised from this Crowdfunder will allow us to begin the manufacturing process of our products in a factory in India. The factory work closely with the local farmers and offer a great rate of pay for the organic jackfruit. Having our products produced on a larger scale in a world class manufacturing facility will allow us to achieve a shelf life of around one year, making it more attractive to retail outlets - helping with our goal of bringing jackfruit to everyone.
We will be putting the money raised towards barcodes, product testing and vegan trademark, marketing campaigns and recipe up-scaling and prototype products.
Jackfruit has not yet achieved the attention it deserves. The fruit has such massive potential; the possibilities of the fruit and its importance in the context of food security, climate change and global warming and now is the time for it to be recognised. So, join us on this journey and enjoy the wonders of jackfruit for yourself!
In return for your generous pledges, we'd love to offer you all some awesome rewards. (Full details on the right).
£1 - Your name featured on our wall of fame.
£5 - Bespoke Vinyl Sticker in collaboration with Moocylu's Designs.
£10 - A jackfruit poem or something... written by Jordan just for you. Awesome!
£20 - Choice of either All American, The Nutty Satay, Jerkpocalypse or The East Beast Jackfruit, shipped straight to your door.
£50 - Can't choose?! Get all 4 flavours shipped to you!
£100 - All of the above, all of the stickers PLUS a limited edition Project Jackfruit tee!
£250 - We'll create and send you a personalised flavour of your choice... go crazy.. Hoisin, Jack Daniel's BBQ, Miso Maple..the possibilities are endless...!
Thank you so much,
We're also part of the Virgin VOOM competition - if we raise the most out of 5 other businesses in the first 3 days (until midday Friday 29th) we'll be awarded an extra £1K! So please pledge early if you can.
Jordan and Abi xxx
Stay up to date with us here:
Website: http://www.projectjackfruit.com
Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/projectjackfruit
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/projectjackfruit
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/projectjfruit
By backing this project you will be supporting the growth of accessible, sustainable, plant-based food, whilst reducing waste and providing a better income for farmers in the future.
If you have any questions or would like to know more, please feel free to drop an e-mail to [email protected]
This project successfully funded on 24th October 2017