Why Offer Plant-Based Alternatives to Consumers
A global survey of 23,000 consumers conducted by FMCG Gurus in September 2020 revealed that 72% of customers are switching to healthier food and beverage options. The widespread shift to veganism is an indicator, with veganism growing at 987% in the United Kingdom and 600% worldwide.
The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region is not exempt from this increasing preference for plant-based solutions. As a case in point, the plant-based milk category has grown by an estimated 50%. While veganism is growing at a considerably slower rate (estimated at 12.89%) in the region, there remains a palpable shift towards flexitarian and reducetarian diets.
Food manufacturing companies must take heed. The number of customers on plant-based diets continues to increase, so manufacturers would do well to design and create options for this segment if they don’t want their base diminished. This trend also represents an opportunity for enterprising entities that may be able to capture an entire market of non-meat-eating consumers.
Why the Shift?
Vegetarians refrain from eating meat, while vegans avoid meat and other animal products. Flexitarians are vegetarians who consume meat products occasionally, while reducetarians are meat-eaters consciously cutting back on their meat consumption.
There are many types of vegetarians and vegans. There are lacto-ovo vegetarians, raw vegans, pescatarians, etc. Flexitarians can be pescatarians if fish is the only meat they occasionally consume.
Veganism, vegetarianism, flexitarianism, reducetarianism, and all flavours of plant-based diets in between all represent a shift towards plant-based solutions. Why is this shift taking place?
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Desire for Better Health
In the GCC, people are switching to a plant-based diet primarily for health reasons. The region has high rates of heart disease, obesity, hypertension, and diabetes, and plant-based diets can reduce the risk for these conditions.
Heart disease, hypertension and obesity are conditions associated with meat consumption. Cooked meat is also a carcinogen, according to the World Health Organization. A Harvard study also links meat consumption with cancer risk.
The prevalence of lifestyle diseases in the GCC is likely due to the region’s high meat consumption. The World Health Organization recommends an annual per-capita meat intake of 24 kg. However, the United Arab Emirates and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia consume 2.5 and 2.25 times that amount, respectively.
It is obvious why flexitarianism and reducetarianism are the popular plant-based diet shifts in the GCC. They are more accessible than outright vegetarianism and veganism for populations that have a decided preference for meat-based diets.
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Concern for the Environment
A desire to minimise the environmental burden of the production and processing of animal products is a driver of the shift to plant-based diets. Livestock farming requires enormous amounts of land and water. It also leads to waste and pollution.
Additionally, the supply chain of meat and animal-derived food products accounts for significant greenhouse gases. As a case in point, every kilogramme of beef accounts for 60 kg of greenhouse gases, whereas every kilo of bananas accounts for less than a kilo (0.8 kg) of global warming gas emissions.
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Apprehensions About Diseases
Some people are actively reducing their meat consumption because they are afraid of getting sick. Animals can carry viruses that can make people ill. Illnesses can transfer from animals to humans, and the recent pandemic emphasised this concern about zoonotic diseases is valid.
Additionally, some livestock farmers are indiscriminate about using antibiotics to prevent their flocks and herds from getting sick. This leads to the development of antibiotic-resistant zoonotic pathogens. Humans will have a hard time fighting these viruses because the typical antibiotics won’t readily work on them.
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Respect for Animal Life
Some are switching to plant-based diets because of a fundamental shift in how they view animals. For these people, there should be no discrimination between pets and livestock. If you wouldn’t eat your dog, you should not eat a cow or a sheep. As such, it is unethical to put animals in cages, milk and breed them at will and slaughter them.
There’s also a subset of people with similar concerns but are not prepared to abandon meat consumption altogether. Typically, they buy their food from ethical livestock farmers and consume organic meat exclusively.
Meat Substitute Plant-Based Solutions
The emergence and growth of plant-based diets is an excellent opportunity for food manufacturing companies. Using plant-based ingredients, they can create plant-based meat substitutes that mimic the properties of meat.
Colour
People eat not only with their mouths but also with their eyes. Plant-based meat-like products should look like meat in the packet and while it heats or cooks.
Manufacturers must decide on the type of meat the product is mimicking: is it beef, lamb, chicken, or pork? Different meat types have different colours.
They also need a colouring product that would give their products the correct colour given the meat they’re simulating and the product’s cook stage. For uncooked plant-based meats, the colour must transition from a raw to a cooked shade. For instance, plant-based beef patties need a colour blend that will change from pink-red in the packet to caramelised brown on the grill.
Cooked plant-based meats must look already cooked in the packet. However, their colours must be heat-stable (i.e., they should not change upon heating).
Appearance
Beef has marbling. Meat eaters use marbling, too, as an indicator of meat quality. As such, manufacturers of plant-based meat substitutes need to incorporate plant-based fat systems into their products.
These fat systems need to bind to the product’s muscle-like fibres to approximate the marbling in meat. They should be solid at room temperature but must melt at higher temperatures to mimic how fat normally renders as meat cooks. Additionally, they should release the rich aroma of meat cooking on the grill.
Texture
Meat has a specific texture, and successful plant-based substitutes can approximate how meat feels in the mouth. Plant-based meat manufacturers typically use high-moisture textured proteins combined with plant-based emulsifiers and binding agents to give their products bite.
Shift to Plant-Based
Profit comes when you follow where customers go. Now that there is a great shift (a mass exodus even) to plant-based diets like veganism, vegetarianism, flexitarianism, and reducetarianism (among others), it’s time for manufacturers to adapt and adopt plant-based solutions.
