Luring the French toward the good plant-based life
I love a startup that invests up front into its branding and gets creative with ads right off the bat. La Vie (“the life”) seemed to come out of nowhere and made that kind of impression on me even though I haven’t been able to try its products out yet.
I also love that it didn’t do the typical burger patty product launch. I know ham and other processed meats are big in Europe, so it made sense that its first product offering was a sliced ham alternative. Gotta know your market!
Let’s learn all about La Vie!
Date founded: 2019
Headquartered in: Paris, France
Founder(s): Nicolas Schweitzer and Vincent Poulichet
Current CEO: Nicolas Schweitzer
Current COO: Gwendoline Mamam
Current CMO/Marketing Director: Romain Jolivet
Annual revenue: $29m
Annual marketing budget: Unknown
I couldn’t find an interview of the CEO speaking in English, so this is the next best thing en francais!
Products/services:
- Plant-based bacon
- Plant-based ham
- Plant-based lardons (a small strip/cube of fatty bacon or pork fat used to flavour dishes. I had to look this up 😆)
- Plant-based meatballs (Italian style, Spicy Asian)
- Ready to eat sandwiches
Brand features
1. Playful branding
La Vie leans into cute and hand-drawn graphics. Their brand uses bright, childlike graphics, cartoonish pigs, and cheeky slogans like “Goodbye Mr. Pig.” This approach softens the message of switching from meat to plants, depicting their brand as unintimidating. Their quintessential pink branding (typically associated with pigs) can be seen all over their Instagram account, website, and physical ads, giving users a colour to associate with the brand.
2. French influence
La Vie proudly wears its French roots on its sleeve. Its messaging includes plenty of nods to France: “Take a cue from the French and enjoy it hot in a croque monsieur, cold in a jambon-beurre (a baguette with butter and ham!), or on your apéro platter.” Its products also reflect this, offering French products like lardons and jambon (ham).
3. Selling to food service
La Vie’s brand positions itself to restaurant owners so products can be carried at cafes and restaurants. It has several pages outlining why restaurant owners should offer their products, such as: “La Vie™ is a great meat substitute in your usual dishes” and “Boost your sales: 70% of French people want to eat less meat”.
This is unique compared to other brands that do not have as dedicated of a section on their website to promote themselves to restaurants.
Top marketing tactics
1. Collaborations
La Vie partners with several major food companies, grocery stores, and more to extend their reach and boost credibility. Examples are Papa Johns, IKEA, Beyond Meat, Sainbury’s, Our Place, Ocado, and Morrisons.
2. Shock value marketing
La Vie doesn’t shy away from making bold, eye-stopping statements on social media and in outdoor ads.
3. Social media series
La Vie runs recurring content series to engage its audience and remain consistent with content and posting.
Website: laviefoods.com
Facebook: Facebook.com/laviefoods.uk or /laviefoods.fr
Instagram: @laviefoods.uk, @laviefoods.fr, @laviefoods.nl
LinkedIn: Linkedin.com/company/laviefoods
YouTube: YouTube.com/@LaVieFoodsFR
TikTok: @laviefoods.uk, @laviefoods.fr
X: @laviefoods_uk, @laviefoods_fr
Run a cruelty-free company and need a hype woman to take admin and publicity off your plate so you can grow your biz? Contact me!
