Dutch meat replacement maker Vivera, the local market leader, is in the late stages of talks on being taken over, the Financieele Dagblad said on Thursday.

The company, based in Holten in Overijssel, is believed to be up for sale for ‘hundreds of millions of euros,’ sources close to the talks told the paper.

Vivera is the Dutch market leader for meat replacements and the third biggest player in Europe behind Quorn and Nestle, the paper said. Vivera has declined to comment on the reports.

Vivera started life as part of meat processing company Enkco which was bought by Gilde Buy Out Partners in 2015 for some €80m. In 2019, the meat activities were sold off.

Vivera booked turnover of €85m last year and aims to triple this within the next five years as the trend towards eating less meat continues, the FD said. The market for meat replacement products has doubled over the past three years.

In 2018, Unilever bought Dutch meat replacement maker De Vegertarische Slager for an estimated €30m.

US fake meat maker Beyond Meat opened a production plant in the Netherlands in 2019 and Britain’s Meatless Farm last year also opened a Dutch operation.