Diners develop a taste for meat substitutes

A customer samples meatballs made from OmniPork produced by OmniFoods, a meat substitute company in Hong Kong. CHINA DAILY

Joint efforts

According to Agricultural Outlook 2020, published by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN, pork consumption in China last year reached 44.8 million metric tons, one of the highest rates globally.

Chan said, "Beyond Pork allows Chinese consumers to enjoy more of their favorite traditional dishes featuring pork, such as dumplings, mapo tofu (tofu in a spicy sauce), Beijing fried sauce noodles, 'lion's head' meatballs (large pork meatballs) and xiaolongbao (steamed meat buns).

"Beyond Pork is a global collaboration between Beyond Meat teams in Los Angeles and Shanghai, and we conducted multiple tests in China to get direct customer feedback to perfect the product."

Chan added that Beyond Pork delivers the meaty taste and texture craved by Chinese customers, but with about 50 percent less saturated and total fat than that found in typical minced pork. Ingredients such as rice and soybeans offer rich sources of protein, with 18.5 grams per 100-gram serving.

She said the company is targeting mainstream customers who love eating meat but are increasingly aware of associated health, climate, environmental and animal welfare concerns.

"Plant-based meats offer a host of environmental benefits, requiring less water and land to produce than meat derived from the farming of animals," Chan said.

In 2018, a study titled Life Cycle Analysis conducted by the University of Michigan in the US found that producing a Beyond Burger patty uses 99 percent less water, 93 percent less land, 46 percent less energy and emits 90 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions compared with producing a regular 113-gram beef burger patty.

In April, OmniFoods, a plant-based meat substitute company in Hong Kong, announced two new products－the OmniPork Luncheon and OmniPork Strip.

David Yeung, the company's founder, said these products are tailor-made for Asian consumers who crave luncheon meat.

According to a report published by Global Info Research in August, annual worldwide sales of luncheon meat are expected to reach $3.9 billion by 2025, up from $3.2 billion last year.

Five of the eight markets with the highest luncheon meat sales last year－China, Southeast Asia, Japan, South Korea and India－are located in the Asia-Pacific region.

In Beijing in September, Italian restaurant Bottega was awarded the Top 10 Pizzeria in Asia and Top 10 Pizzeria in the World Outside Italy awards by the rating organization 50 Top Pizza.

These achievements accompanied the launch of a plant-based sausage pizza by the restaurant to provide a meat-free choice for vegetarian customers. Details of the product were not placed on the formal menu, but were printed on a fryer hanging on a wall at the eatery.

However, Nana Shinohara, co-founder of Bottega, said few diners order the new arrival "maybe because most customers who come to our restaurant are looking for (traditional) meat".

Shinohara said the restaurant team tried to find a vegan cheese to make a pizza, but such cheese is far too expensive.

After trying different plant-based meat, they decided to use minced pork from Z-Rou, a Chinese brand founded in Shanghai last year.

To date, Z-Rou only has two products－plant-based minced pork and ground pork. It uses soybean, konjac (a herb), coconut oil and shiitake mushrooms as its main ingredients.

Franklin Yao, the brand's founder, said minced pork is an iconic ingredient in Chinese cuisine, as it is used in many dishes, including mapo tofu, Sichuan noodles with peppery sauce and dumplings, as well as in Western cuisine such as pasta and pizza.

Netizen "Xiaoke'ai Liga" shared her experience of cooking minced Z-Rou pork on the social commerce platform Xiaohongshu, also known as Little Red Book. She said the flavor of beans could still be detected, so users should not be stingy in adding seasoning to the plant-based meat.

"To taste like traditional meat, it has to be fried, and I made fried meat steak with a black pepper flavor, which tasted good," she posted.