Chinese diners rapidly realizing all meat isn't red

Rising awareness of health and wellness is behind the popularity of plant-based protein-rich foods among consumers－be they mock meats available at restaurant chains or dairy products offered at stores and cafes.

Experts explained that the increasing acceptance of plant-based foods reflects the diversified needs in today's consumer environment.

"With the economic development and expansion of the middle-income group, Chinese consumers are looking for more options to get protein. In addition, Chinese people are very open to trying out new things when it comes to food, especially those labeled novel, refreshing and delicious," said Jackson Chan, managing director of Cargill Protein China.

According to Cargill's definition, plant-based protein describes foods that contain vegetable protein and other ingredients to deliver a great taste that rivals animal protein counterparts.

China is a huge market for plant-based products, considering it has the largest population in the world, and enjoys great demand for animal and alternative proteins. As incomes continue to rise and consumption modes get upgraded, exploring new ways of procuring dietary protein will be further spurred on.

"There is the projection that global protein demand will increase by 70 percent over the next 30 years, which means we will need both animal proteins and alternative proteins to meet rising demand. This provides huge opportunities for companies like us that are trying to provide more protein options, and working hard to fill a global protein gap," Chan said.

Although the plant-based food market is an emerging category, there has been a long history of Chinese people trying to get protein from plants, such as having tofu and soy milk from soy beans. However, experts said bean products are a bit different from plant-based foods.

Traditional soy foods, such as bean curd rolls, can also be regarded as a kind of meat substitute. They are mainly soy-based or gluten-based. By contrast, plant-based meat can be created with more types of protein, which can offer diversified choices for taste, texture and nutrition requirements, said Pan Guangjun, business director of plant-based protein at ADM Human Nutrition in Asia-Pacific.

"Chinese consumers often easily confuse plant-based meats with traditional soy-based foods, so the market still requires further customer education to improve consumer perceptions," Pan said.

"Technically, plant-based proteins are made by restructuring the texturized proteins of soy, wheat or peas, and then adding other ingredients and additives, which is a more complicated compound, by contrast. The components are reorganized and can be mixed as new kinds of food," said Chan with Cargill.

According to Hong Xiaoqi, founder of Shanghai-based Hey Maet, compared with conventional bean products, plant-based meats can be created in accordance with various consumer demands, such as fitness, weight-loss objectives and others.

Euromonitor International said China's meat substitute market rose from $8.04 billion in 2015 to $10.81 billion in sales revenue in 2020, and it projected the scale to reach $14.15 billion in 2025.

Accounting for about half of the global market, the consumption in China, however, is mostly in the form of bean products. And also for this reason, the Chinese meat substitute market is forecast to grow at a slower pace in the coming five years vis-a-vis the global market, which is expected to expand from $20.74 billion in 2020 to $27.72 billion in 2025.

"The plant-based meat retail market in China is at an early stage, and most plant-based meats are cooked in Western cuisine and styles such as fast food including burgers, pasta and chicken nuggets," said Cao Wenli, research manager at Euromonitor International.

Currently, most of vegetarian demand is met by bean products, which means the traditional soy meat market is already well established.

Therefore, plant-based meat products can take advantage of consumers' familiarity with traditional soy-based meats, but they also need to help consumers distinguish between them in order to justify innovation and the premium image of plant-based meats, according to Gu Jing, category director of Mintel China.

Gu said Chinese consumers are keen on trying plant-based meat products of various types, especially middle and high HHI (high household income) consumers. Nearly 90 percent polled claim they are willing to try plant-based foods, and on average, consumers intend to try 4.2 types of foods using plant-based meat.

Like plant-based meats, demand for plant-based dairy products is equally impressive.

After an initial public offering on Nasdaq in which its market value reached some $13 billion, the world's largest oat milk producer Oatly vowed to further expand its retail channels in China, in addition to its products available at over 6,000 brick-and-mortar stores and 11,000 cafes across the country, according to a China Daily report on the plant-based dairy producer earlier this year.

Although there has been a long tradition of soy milk in China and other Asian countries, the very distinctive and strong flavor of soy milk leaves growth potential for plant-based dairy alternatives－including almond milk and oat milk－according to Dino Asvaintra, president of DSM Hydrocolloids.

In addition, the fact that a lot of Chinese and Asian people are lactose-intolerant means they might experience gastrointestinal problems after consuming traditional dairy products like milk or yogurt.