A customer tries a plant-based meat substitute product on the Restaurant & Bar and Connoisseur Asia expo on the Hong Kong Conference and Exhibition centre in Hong Kong on November 11, 2020.
Peter Parks | AFP | Getty Photos
SINGAPORE — Demand for meat alternate options has grown and can proceed to rise, however the business nonetheless has hurdles to beat in numerous components of the world, analysts stated.
Worldwide search curiosity for the time period “plant-based meat” skyrocketed in early 2019 months earlier than Past Meat’s preliminary public providing, in keeping with Google Developments.
The worldwide meat substitutes sector is price $20.7 billion, and is ready to develop to $23.2 billion by 2024, market analysis firm Euromonitor advised CNBC.
That progress is being spurred by issues starting from animal welfare to meals safety and the Covid-19 pandemic.
“On this period of shocks and instability, constructing a low-risk worth chain means specializing in the place the alternatives are, and the shift in direction of plant-based meat reveals no indicators of slowing down,” stated Elaine Siu, managing director of The Good Meals Institute Asia Pacific.
However obstacles stay for the burgeoning market.
Cultural obstacles
The plant-based meat market in Asia could also be restricted by established notion points, stated Siu.
For instance, mock meat or vegetarian meat was beforehand primarily eaten by followers of Buddhism in China, she stated.
“Replication of the style and texture of meat was by no means pushed previous a comparatively primary degree,” she stated, including that these conventional merchandise serve a particular function and “their attraction is considered as restricted” to sure teams.
“To ensure that plant-based meat to achieve its full market potential in Asia, the sector should proceed to interrupt freed from its affiliation with conventional mock meats, that are anticipated to be bought at a low worth level and carry historic picture baggage,” stated Siu.
Objections from the normal meat business
Cattle farmers might additionally stand in the way in which of the choice protein sector, particularly within the U.S., stated Simon Powell, international head of thematic analysis at American financial institution Jefferies.
The U.S. Cattlemen’s Affiliation in 2018 filed a petition asking for an official definition of the phrases “beef” and “meat,” in a bid to maintain plant-based proteins out of the outline.
A herd of beef cattle collect within the shade of outdated barn on Might 4, 2020 in Owings, Maryland.
Mark Wilson | Getty Photos Information | Getty Photos
“Incumbent producers are going to foyer their governments onerous to alter the labelling, to fiddle with shopper promoting to say you may’t name it meat,” Powell advised CNBC through Zoom. “I believe that is doubtlessly one of many largest obstacles.”
The European Union in October rejected proposals to ban eating places and outlets from utilizing phrases akin to sausage or burger when describing meat alternate options.
Shopper confidence, shopper fatigue
Powell added that if any of the plant-based meat corporations had “some form of accident” or drawback with their recipe that ends in a “large recall,” that might make clients afraid of consuming these alternate options.
“It is a large ‘if’ … but when they had been to have an enormous recall of product, then that may dent shopper confidence,” he stated. “Sooner or later, you are going to get these occasions. That is going to set the business again a bit.”
Individually, Powell stated the “Instagrammability” of plant-based meals is one motive why the market is rising “in every single place on this planet.” Progress of the market may very well be hindered if the novelty of meat alternate options fades away or wears off, he stated.