Operations

Wow Bao creates menu for plant-based concept

Provided

March 7, 2022

Several industry leaders have come together to launch a plant-based protein brand — Skinny Butcher — in both retail and virtual restaurants.

Developed in Detroit by the former Garden Fresh Gourmet partners, who sold to the Campbell's Soup Company for $231 million, Skinny Butcher invited LA-based Golden West Food Group to manufacture the line. The company is also an equity stakeholder.

Wow Bao, which has 650 units and will serve as the brand's virtual kitchen concept, created the Crazy Crispy Chick'n menu that includes Chick'n Parm, Jumbo Chick'n Tenders, Chick'n Caesar Salad, Teriyaki Chick'n, sandwiches and sliders. Wow Bao has partnered with REEF Kitchens to launch the menu across the country via third-party delivery.

Wow Bao has a longstanding relationship with Valor Equity Partners, an operational growth equity firm that made a $10 million investment in Skinny Butcher.

"Our mission is to go to market with a line that wins on branding and on flavor profile," Skinny Butcher CEO Dave Zilko said in a company press release. "No other plant-based program possesses the brand personality of Skinny Butcher; he endears himself to the consumer at the point of sale and that relationship continues through consumption. Skinny Butcher does not take himself or our Crazy Crispy line of Chick'n Nuggets, Tenders, Patties, Sliders or Breasts too seriously. This kind of food should be fun, while also being sustainable."

Skinny Butcher is importing a vegetable fiber strain, employing pea protein and adding to it a proprietary spice blend that results in products virtually indistinguishable from animal-based comparables. From there, the soy-free line further differentiates itself with a unique breading system that allows for the sub-brand "Crazy Crispy," in response to the fried chicken sandwich wars playing out in QSR outlets across the country.

"We have always been a food first company, and Dave Zilko & team have created an unparalleled product that we are proud to partner with and represent on a national scale," Wow Bao President and CEO Geoff Alexander said in the release. "While other plant-based chick'n companies have nuggets, we have a full line of menu items that will please any and all eaters."