A NORTH Yorkshire food firm is helping Americans to ditch burgers, hot dogs and steaks in favour of the vegetarian option.

Quorn, which has ambitions to become a $1bn dollar business in the next ten years, saw sales surge in all of the 15 countries it directly supplies, particularly the US where like-for-like sales were up 25 per cent in the second half of 2014, rocketing to 48 per cent in the final quarter.

Quorn ,which employs about 600 workers at its headquarters in Stokesley, North Yorkshire, expects its US business to grow by 30 per cent annually, and aims to build a stateside operation four times its current size by 2019.

To fuel growth and sustain sales momentum, the firm is investing £30m to double production capacity at its factory in Billingham, creating up to 400 new jobs in the process, and investing millions of pounds into new product development of its range of meat substitutes.

Kevin Brennan, the firm's chief executive, said: “2014 was the year when we really started to realise Quorn’s potential for growth all over the world.

"For the first time in the company’s history, we achieved sales of over £150m, with sustained growth in all of the 15 countries we directly export to. What’s more, an increasing number of carnivores are buying into our brand with non-vegetarians now accounting for three-quarters of our customer base."

Quorn puts much of the US growth down to creating its own stateside team at the beginning of 2014 in order to improve its access to the major distributors. Since then, it's seen a massive lift in trading.

After an initial trial with Wal-Mart, Quorn has quadrupled its distribution with the retailer to the point where its products are now available in 2,300 stores across the US.

The company has also seen double-digit distribution growth over the last 12 months in other major US retailers, including Kroger and Meijer.

Mr Brennan added: “Over the last two years we’ve seen sales grow in the UK by 20 per cent and we expect to sustain this momentum as people rethink their meat eating habits and explore healthy and sustainable protein alternatives such as Quorn.

“Clearly the US is a market that offers massive potential for growth and, on the back of an extremely positive 2014 which culminated in like-for-like sales growth of 88 per cent in December, we're aiming to create a stateside operation four times its current size by 2019.

“Following successful launches in Germany, Finland and Denmark last year, we're also looking to expand into at least one new market in 2015 as we strive to create a $1bn business, four to five times its current size. After last year, we really are generating momentum towards this goal.”

WHAT is Quorn?

The main ingredient is a plant protein that replicates meat's texture and taste;

It was developed in the 1960s amid fears of a shortage in protein-rich foods;

Quorn as a retail product was first produced in 1985 by Marlow Foods;

The company uses double Olympic Games and double world champion runner Mo Farah to front its advertising campaign.