Centric Software® , the Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) market leader, proudly announces its partnership with MeEat, a Finnish plant-based food tech startup. Centric Software provides the most innovative enterprise solutions to plan, design, develop, source and sell products such as apparel, footwear, sporting goods, furniture, home décor, consumer electronics, cosmetics, food & beverage and luxury to achieve strategic and operational digital transformation goals.
Founded in 2020, MeEat Food Tech is a plant-based food startup with an aspirational mission — to make the best plant-based products and help the meat industry switch to plant-based food production. MeEat is a spin-off from a Finnish meat processing company, Pouttu, and their brand MUU is the market leader in Finland.
MeEat introduces new products in supermarkets that can easily be used to substitute meat in everyday dishes and recipes, without sacrificing the flavor and feel of meat. To date, they have launched 50 products to market in various sub-categories including sausages, cold cuts and ready-made meals. In their constant pursuit of innovation, the new hero ingredient in MeEat’s plant-based meals is fermented fava beans, which are highly sustainable, protein-rich, and a minimally processed alternative to traditional food sources.
With the goal of strengthening their market position and expanding internationally, the small but agile team at MeEat knew they needed to streamline innovation processes and get control of their data.
“We wanted a solution that collects everything in one place to make innovation processes fast and smooth,” says Janna Oksanen, PLM Project Manager at MeEat. “All current portfolio and new product development data is stored in disparate locations and formats, and the amount of manual work teams are doing is time consuming and increases the risk of mistakes.”
Determined to speed innovation, improve collaboration and alleviate the frustration team members were experiencing, MeEat began the search for their first Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) system.
“We chose Centric Software as a partner because of their expertise in platform development and deep understanding of FMCG business needs,” shares Oksanen. “The configurability and features of Centric PLMTMare superior to other solutions, and being able to access Centric team members during regular office hours will facilitate collaboration. The project will include our entire portfolio of 50+ SKUs, our MUU brand and a couple of private label and collaboration brands.”
MeEat expects Centric PLM will streamline innovation processes and product data management. “We will be able to launch better products and get the right products to market faster,” says Oksanen. “With PLM we will make fewer mistakes and reduce our risks.”
Streamlining collaboration is another focus of their PLM implementation.
“It will make managing growing portfolios easier, especially when we open new markets and grow our international business,” explains Oksanen. “When data is stored in one place, project status is visible to everyone, and integrating external partners will be simple.”
MeEat is optimistic about their partnership with Centric Software and plan to grow their PLM project in stages, eventually using Centric PLM as an ecosystem to bring together isolated players in the plant-based industry. “We are starting with Centric’s idea of dream big, start small,” says Oksanen.
“We are thrilled that MeEat has selected Centric PLM to support their mission to accelerate the development of responsible food systems,” says Chris Groves, CEO of Centric Software. “Their commitment to sustainability and innovation is closely aligned with Centric Software’s values.”
