Asian plant-based meat
IN the past, I have written about Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat, two leading plant-based meat companies. These companies make mock-meat from plants. Mock-meat made from gluten and tofubased products is common in Malaysia but those don’t really taste like meat. The stuff made by Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat do.
They are very expensive though; in fact, far more expensive than the real stuff. And there’s some debate about exactly how healthy they are.
However, one Asian company is trying to address those concerns.
UnMEAT is a plant-based burger made by Manila-based Century Pacific Food which is aiming to address the issue of price and nutrition.
Century Pacific is one of the Philippines’ largest food and beverage companies.
Like the products from Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat, UnMEAT is 100 per cent plant-based, so it offers the same benefits like sustainability and animal friendliness.
But unlike its American rivals, whose products can cost more than double the cost of real meat, UnMEAT aims to be not more than 30 per cent or 40 per cent than the real thing.
Its products are also made up of pretty simple, everyday ingredients including soy protein, vegetable oil, onion, wheat, salt, vinegar and soy sauce.
Unlike other plant-based products on the market, you won’t find “unpronounceable ingredients or artificial flavours” on unMEAT’s list of ingredients, according to the company in its press release.
The unMEAT product line consists of plantbased burger patties, Hungarian sausages, nuggets, and minced meat. “Using the company’s years of experience working with proteins, Century Pacific’s unMEAT offers plantbased proteins by extracting the nutrients from real food, rather than using synthetic ingredients,” the company said, adding that unMEAT has zero cholesterol and trans-fat, while also offering a healthy source of protein and fibre.
So, will it succeed in the market place against hot rivals like Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat? Well, it has price going for it.
In the Philippines, unMEAT products are affordably priced around Php 135 (US$2.80/ pack), which is not far from the cost of real meat.
Its natural-ingredients approach should appeal to those who are health-conscious.
“Century Pacific is a disruptor in the food industry, with a proven track record of delivering products consumers crave,” declared Lionel Flutto, president, AsiaPacific of Symrise Flavor.
Adding, he said: “There are many products in the plant-based space, but not many carry a clean label as this is quite challenging to do. Symrise has extensive experience in creating the right taste from natural materials, so we were able to partner with Century Pacific to create the cleaner label of product that consumers desire.”
Ultimately though it will depend on the taste. If it doesn’t taste like real meat, the way Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat do, it will fail.
The company claims that taste is not an issue.
“One of the biggest concerns about plant-based foods is that they are not delicious or as pleasing to the palate as real meat,” noted Nikki Dizon, a senior executive at Century Pacific.
Adding: “But our Nutrition Science team took that as a challenge, and completely delivered by coming up with a meat alternative that unbelievably and undeniably looks, feels, and tastes like meat. Moreover, they made unMEAT using simple ingredients and extracted the nutrients from real food rather than synthetic compounds so it’s healthier and more affordable.”
The unMEAT brand was first introduced in the Philippines through Shakey’s Pizza which offered the “Good Burger”, which uses unMEAT’s patties.
This month, the company has started making unMEAT burger patties available directly for sale to consumers. The brand is being launched in several international markets including the USA, Singapore, China and the Middle East.
I have not seen it in supermarkets here and it’s not clear when it will be available in Malaysia but one would expect it’s just a matter of time.
If America’s Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat can make it to Malaysian shores, there’s no reason why one from within the ASEAN region can’t.
The plant-based meat market is a fastgrowing sector mainly due to consumers wanting to eat less meat due to health considerations.
Some also have turned to plant-based meat due to concerns about the environment and animal welfare.
If you go to any good supermarket, you will see a section dedicated to plant-based meat.
There you can find Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat products, as well as other brands from the US.
I’ve tried all these before and look forward to trying unMEAT’s version soon.