According to foreign media, China has become a battlefield for vegetable meat enterprises, which hope to enter the world's largest meat consumption market.
Impossible food, a US vegetable meat company, said on the 10th that it was waiting for regulatory approval to enter the Chinese market, while competitors such as surpass meat were pushing ahead with plans to establish production bases in China. Targeting 1.4 billion Chinese consumers, the two companies hope to work with their Western counterparts to find meat substitutes other than traditional meat imitations, which cover a wide range of products, from artificial crab meat to duck breast meat to steak.
Impossible food companies need special permission from regulators because their plant meat products contain genetically modified substances such as heme (a molecule that releases meat flavor) and soy protein. "We're in the regulatory process, and it's going to take time," said Pat Brown, chief executive of impossible foods. All I can say now is that it's going well. "
The company announced last week that it would open a factory in an industrial park near Shanghai, saying it would not use any genetically modified materials, the report said.
Nestle said it will increase investment in its Tianjin plant to build a plant meat production line.
Local Chinese companies such as zhenrou and Sunday are also expanding their businesses, cooperating with restaurants across the country and even offering vegetarian seafood, the report noted.
"Impossible food" announced on the 10th that it would launch a sausage product in Hong Kong in the form of menu items from Starbucks coffee chain and other restaurants. Impossible food's products include vegetable beef, pork and sausage.
Brown said the company plans to build a plant in China and build a supply chain of the raw materials needed in China so that it can produce its products entirely in China.
Novel coronavirus pneumonia, the founder of Matilda Ho, the founder of China's first food technology venture capital group, said the new crown pneumonia epidemic is a good opportunity for consumers to recommend plant based meat substitutes, because some people worry that the disease may spread through meat although there is no evidence to prove such a case. "Although people are now starting to return to normal, consumers are concerned that meat products may be associated with the new coronavirus," he said. Some people have reduced their meat intake as a result
However, entry into the Chinese market can be a challenge as most vegetable meat products tend to be expensive.
"The Chinese market is challenging because China's food culture and consumer groups are very diverse and the market is very price sensitive," said Xiao Kaiyi, managing director of the Asia Pacific region of the Food Association. However, it is important not to ignore the basic elements of food's popularity in the market - recognized taste, price and convenience. "
It is reported that China's meat consumption has been growing steadily since 1990. Although the growth rate has slowed down in the past 10 years, the consumption has more than doubled. China consumes more meat than any other country.