SIAL 2024 live: Umiami rebrands as Swap amid shifting global demand for plant-based alternatives

Umiami, a French company specializing in plant-based chicken fillets, has renamed itself “Swap.” The change is touted as a significant milestone in the company’s growth and reaffirms its focus on international expansion in the plant-based analogs market.

While the new brand embraces a fresh identity, the focus on taste and sustainability remains unchanged. The company continues to offer high-quality, planet-friendly food that respects animal welfare.

The versatility of the name Swap allows the company to expand beyond plant-based chicken fillets, potentially covering all types of meat and fish. The company believes “this flexibility paves the way for future product expansion while maintaining a consistent brand identity.”

Food Ingredients First speaks with Chloé Leroux, retail partnership Europe and UK market lead, at the SIAL Paris 2024 trade show. 

“Rebranding is significant for us because this move will enable us to globalize our brand and reach as many customers as possible. We want to encourage them to ‘swap’ their traditional meat products and replace them with ours.”

The company’s strategic rebranding to Swap was driven by the notion that “swap” is a universal word and works well for international audiences.“Swap will be very easy to integrate into restaurant menus and offer an alternative to those dishes that consumers are familiar with. This is why we came out with the rebranding: to encourage people to eat more sustainably, move away from animal products and just ‘Swap,’” she explains. 

“We wanted a name that was easy to remember and that will resonate with consumers.”

More than just a name, Swap is a call to action. It encourages consumers to make a positive change in their eating habits by substituting traditional meat fillets for plant-based alternatives. 

A clean label alternative 

At the exhibition, Swap is presenting its plant-based chicken breast product. 

Leroux explains: “This clean label product contains only seven ingredients. We developed a unique technology that enables us to recreate the fiber, shape, and experience of an actual chicken breast using only plant-based ingredients. This allows us to recreate the organoleptic and nutritional values of traditional chicken.”

Swap’s chicken breast fillets are also high in protein, with 20 g of protein per serving. “That’s something that we really want to showcase at SIAL, that we can offer a product that is very close nutritionally to actual chicken,” she adds.

Alt-protein demand

Leroux observes “an abundance of global challenges in F&B innovation,” which include environmental, animal welfare and health challenges.

“This is ultimately driving the demand for alternative proteins. We have also noticed what we call a ‘meat paradox,’ whereby we have a consumer that loves and needs meat, but simultaneously realizes all those challenges and so often they feel conflicted in their food choices,” she tells us.

“That’s why we are offering a meat replacement that is just as juicy and tasty as meat.”The company’s product, Swap Chicken, is a thick, whole fillet that reinvents the taste, texture and appearance of chicken using a short list of familiar ingredients.

Commenting on the competitive plant-based market, Leroux sees “lots of great products,” but many are alternatives to processed meats, such as chicken nuggets and meatballs. 

“We wanted to roll out a chicken fillet alternative first to help the consumers switch from animal meat to replacement. Our product is very versatile and you can cook it any way you would an animal chicken breast. Our fillet offers a wide range of possibilities for end dishes.”

Expansion on the horizon 

The company’s next steps are to continue developing the brand in Europe and strengthen its recent launches in Chicago, US. 

“Our goal now is to bring our product all the way across Europe. We are expanding our business in North America, and hope to bring our product to as many consumers as possible,” Leroux concludes. 

With live reporting from Elizabeth Green at SIAL 2024 in Paris, France