A home-style, plant-based roast boldly takes centre stage

The Christmas goose, the Easter ham, the Sunday roast. These are the elements many gatherings have been built around over the decades. But times have changed, and the members sitting around that table, like Jasmine Byrne (COO) and her mom Kimberly Chamberland (CEO), founders of Big Mountain Foods, wanted to drive that change to bring non-meat options to get-togethers.

With a focus on providing more than an alternative to meat, Byrne says it was time to have a roast that could take centre stage just as easily as taking a supporting role on the table. It took significant development, but the Big Mountain Foods Plant-Based Roast arrived at Costco in 2024, with other select retailers listing the product in 2025.

“There wasn’t much innovation in holiday items,” says Byrne of the drive to create the stuffed and rolled roast. “It’s an item you could have at the holiday table alongside meat. The meat-eaters are going to love it too. It’s got some really delicious, nostalgic stuffing and comes with a mushroom gravy.”

The launch of the roast was several years in the making, beginning with the six-year process to get the first soy-free, fava bean tofu commercially viable. Now, using fava beans from Prairie Fava—thanks to an introduction and support from Protein Industries Canada—fava tofu is created at Big Mountain Foods’ factory in Delta, BC, and used alongside cranberries, carrots, celery and holiday spices in the plant-based roast.

Creating more allergen-free plant-protein products increased in importance for Byrne and Chamberland when Byrne learned she has Celiac disease. She explains that her grandmother used to make a vital wheat gluten roast, but this takes too much time and doesn’t fit a gluten-free diet.

“It’s just too much of a process to make that at home, from scratch, and have it be allergen free,” she says of today’s home cooks. “Not everyone is cooking from scratch, but everyone does want to feel like a gourmet chef with the smells in the kitchen.”

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