Loading...


2019 November
Future Meat’s Future as a Plant-based Food

In recent years, more and more plant-based meat products boasting both excellent flavour and high nutritional value have emerged in the market. Besides Beyond Meat and others from abroad, Omnipork, developed by environmentally friendly local social enterprise Green Monday, is also well-received, setting off a new upsurge of plant-based food.
 

 

Stepping into Green Common, which incorporates a vegetarian bistro and supermarket and is a one-stop green living destination run by Green Monday, it is easy to spot many office workers and housewives among the customers. It is obvious that plant-based food is gaining popularity across a wider spectrum of consumers in Hong Kong. In fact, according to a vegetarian habit survey released by Green Monday in the middle of this year, among over 1,000 Hong Kong respondents aged 15 to 65, about 24% practise flexitarian, and among female respondents, this percentage is 26%, a sharp increase from 5% seven years ago. The results revealed a paradigm shift among Hong kongers to a plant-based diet.

 

Plant-based meat becomes a trend amid rising health consciousness

As plant-based food gains momentum, David Yeung, CEO and Founder of Green Monday, believes that it has much to do with the rising health consciousness among urbanites, especially among women, sports enthusiasts and the new generation, who tend to eat less meat. Moreover, there are many among the growing variety of plant-based food today that are a feast to our eyes, noses and taste buds, so it is no wonder that such products are increasingly well-received by Hong Kongers.

 

Plant-based meat, also known as “future meat”, is the most high-profile plant-based food products in recent years. Among them, US brand Beyond Meat’s burger patties are even coveted by many meat-lovers. Last year, Green Common launched Omnipork, a vegan pork alternative. Omnipork is developed by Right Treat, Green Common’s food technology company in Canada. Based on a proprietary vegan protein recipe, the plant-based alternative to pork is made from peas, non-genetically modified soybeans, shiitake mushrooms and rice, and is the first of its kind in Asia.

 

Vegan pork finds favour with Asian taste buds

“As beef and chicken meat are staple foods in Europe and America, plant-based meat products imported from overseas are mainly made from them. However, Chinese and other Asians traditionally prefer pork and often use pork to prepare a myriad of dishes, e.g. shrimp dumplings and steamed dumplings all have pork as stuffing.” According to Yeung, Right Treat last year launched Omnipork, its first plant-based food product, to cater to the diets of the Chinese and other Asians.

 

Yeung added that in the early stage after launching Omnipork, Green Monday took the lead in inviting well-known Chinese cuisine chefs and plant-based-food loving celebrities to share their thoughts after preparing and enjoying the delicious dishes, which aroused much public attention. Subsequently, the product was gradually introduced into different restaurants, where it is turned into a wide variety of fine cuisine or homely dishes, e.g. pickled mustard steamed meatloaf, spicy tofu, dumplings and roasted lotus cakes. Green Monday also partners with food catering companies to make Omnipork into a healthy meal choice for students in school.

 

Omnipork makes its name with high nutritional value

Following its first successful step in the F&B market, Yeung said that the focus now is to get Omnipork into the retail market, with supermarkets as the first stop, and stalls will be specially set up at Lok Fu Market to demonstrate cooking with Omnipork on the spot to get closer to the public.

 

Yeung said that besides easy to prepare and tastes almost like real pork, Omnipork’s protein content is not much different from that of pork (12.2g vs. 17.9g) and is richer in iron and calcium. It also has 65% less calories and zero cholesterol. Therefore, it is most suitable for people who like to eat pork or often use pork to prepare dishes while worrying about high cholesterol. “Because it is preservative-free, Omnipork should be consumed within seven days after unpacking and can be stored for 14 months if kept refrigerated.”

 

Omnipork has now gone beyond Hong Kong and entered the F&B and retail markets of Taiwan and Singapore, with sales in Taiwan even exceeding expectations, showing that the plant-based product, which is as highly nutritious and tasty as meat, is widely welcomed by Asians. Yeung looks to attracting more people to adopt a plant-based food diet to reduce the harm to animals while contributing to the world’s natural environment and sustainability.