Food products Rügenwalder Mühle is already working on new names for veggie meat
Following the European Parliament's vote that vegetarian meat substitutes should no longer be called burgers, schnitzels and sausages, German manufacturer Rügenwalder Mühle is already working on possible new names.
17.10.2025, 07:32
SDA
"The range we are thinking about is huge," company boss Jörg Pfirrmann told the "Tagesspiegel" newspaper on Friday. Completely new fantasy names or more descriptive ones are conceivable. "But perhaps we can also continue to use old terms - with new additions."
Last week, a majority of the European Parliament decided that meat substitutes should no longer be called burgers or sausages. However, the decision is not final and will now go into negotiations with the 27 EU countries.
Rügenwalder Mühle is the market leader for meat substitute products in Germany and, according to the report, makes 70 percent of its turnover with these products. A change of name would cost a mid-single-digit million amount, Pfirrmann told the newspaper.
However, the long-term consequences would be even more serious because new consumers might not find their way to the alternative products as easily after a renaming. "But we still hope that it won't come to that, because the EU Commission and the member states still have a say," Pfirrmann told the "Tagesspiegel".
