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Juicy Marbles and the Art of Familiar Food, With Vladimir Mićković

Vladimir Mićković, co-founder and chief brand officer of Juicy Marbles, explains why the plant-based whole-cuts brand chose to launch with a marbled fillet steak rather than an easier product like a burger.

Starting With the "Crown Jewel" Cut

Mićković compares the decision to Tesla launching with the Roadster: a premium, attention-getting product meant to showcase what their fiber and marbling process could do before scaling into more accessible cuts. Baby Ribs, now his favorite product, started as a way to use a side-stream of protein that would have otherwise gone to waste, reformulated over a year to drop carrageenan and methylcellulose after fans flagged them, and fortified with zinc, selenium, iron, and B12.

Marketing Plant-Based Food Without the Ideology

Mićković's advice to other founders trying to reach beyond the existing vegan market: treat every word on packaging as a symbol carrying cultural weight, and lead with curiosity about the food rather than ideology, since words like "vegan" or "conscious" can make omnivore shoppers feel their identity is being challenged before they've even tried the product.

• First product was a marbled fillet steak, chosen deliberately to showcase texture and crust
• Baby Ribs reformulated over a year to drop carrageenan and methylcellulose, now fortified with zinc, selenium, iron, and B12
• Products carry a European Nutri-Score of A
• Advice to founders: lead packaging with curiosity about the food, not ideology, to reach beyond the existing vegan market

His closing message: vegans and meat eaters both need more compassion for each other online, since neither is a homogenous group and nobody wins from "ideological warfare" in the comments.