The mighty jackfruit is the ultimate natural vegan pantry staple. It’s a sustainable climate-resilient crop, packed with nutrients like folate, magnesium, and vitamin C and B, and rich in fibre too.
Jackfruit can magically transform into a delicious whole-food alternative to meat—think jackfruit “pork” tacos, stews, and curries, to name a few. Needless to say, we’re big fans of jackfruit and wanted to highlight some of our favourite brands. Below are five jackfruit companies we think you should have on your radar.
1. Karana
Founded: 2018
Product range: Whole plant meat shreds, whole plant meat mince (coming soon)
Where to buy: Restaurants across Singapore and Hong Kong. Full list here.
Things we love: Karana is a startup using unique food tech and minimal processing to “optimise” young jackfruit into a delicious whole food plant meat alternative. Based in Singapore, the company sources jackfruit from smallholder farmers in Southeast Asia. It just launched a chef-ready product through foodservice channels in Hong Kong and Singapore, but plans on entering retail channels soon with Asian-inspired dishes like jackfruit meat-filled vegan BBQ buns.
2. Jack & Bry
Founded: 2018
Product range: Jackfruit burgers, sausages, mince
Where to buy: Online UK-wide delivery on its website (bundles, retail packs, subscription plans) or order meals from Jack & Bry’s kitchen within North London.
Things we love: Jack & Bry is a London-based brand that sells jackfruit products that you can cook yourself at home. It also offers delicious jackfruit-based meals (burgers, fries, nachos) delivered straight to your door. It has its own tech to find out the perfect time to harvest unripe jackfruit, understand the crop’s nutrients and naturally develop its range of vegan burgers, sausage, and mince.
3. The Jackfruit Company
Founded: 2011
Product range: Jackfruit chunks (original and 5 other flavours), ripe jackfruit, jackfruit ready meals (4 flavours), jackfruit pulled pork, bulk naked jackfruit (foodservice)
Where to buy: Amazon, Kroger, Safeway, Walmart, Whole Foods. Full list of retailers here.
Things we love: The Jackfruit Company is one of the earliest players in the jackfruit game. The brand is based in Boulder, Colorado, and works with over 1,000 local farmers in India to sustainably and ethically harvest jackfruit. All of its products are vegan—from convenient pouches of jackfruit chunks, which come in delicious flavours like BBQ or Tex-Mex, to ready meals like jackfruit coconut curry.
4. Upton’s Naturals
Founded: 2006
Product range: Shredded jackfruit, original jackfruit, flavoured jackfruit (barbecue, chilli lime, Thai curry)
Where to buy: Amazon, Target. Full list of online and physical retail stores here.
Things we love: Upton’s Naturals isn’t an exclusive jackfruit brand (it also makes, seitan, vegan hot dogs, and more), but it does offer an entire range of jackfruit products. If you’re looking to craft jackfruit dishes from scratch, the brand’s original jackfruit contains 100% jackfruit and nothing else. For those who might have never tried jackfruit before, the flavoured range is the way to go—it’ll definitely leave you in awe of how the mighty jackfruit can be transformed into a vegan whole-food meat alternative.
5. Better
Founded: 2019
Product range: Jackfruit malaikari, original jackfruit, jackfruit vindaloo stir-fry, jackfruit malabar curry
Where to buy: Retailers across Mumbai. Full list here.
Things we love: Better (stylised “better.”) is an Indian startup transforming the humble jackfruit into meaty, hearty and 100% vegan curries and meals. Based in Mumbai, the company currently makes four different jackfruit products, and three of them are Indian-style ready meals that are designed to pair with rice or appams.
Lead image courtesy of The Jackfruit Company.
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