Ipsos data shows that more than 90% of Chinese consumers have heard of plant meat, and more and more consumers are willing to try plant meat fresh.

A survey report by the British "Guardian" shows that the consumption of plant meat in China is increasing. Foreign media generally believe that China is the key battlefield for plant meat.

2019 is considered to be the first year of Chinese plant meat. In just two years, the battlefield of plant meat in China has been full of gunpowder. Giants such as Unilever, Nestlé, Cargill and others have gathered in China with plant meat (production) brands (products), pushing plant meat to the forefront and opening the high-speed advanced mode of plant meat in China.

A few days ago, Unilever's vegetable meat brand, Zhizhuo Meatsmith, has a new action, selling 6 new products, namely vegetable pork, vegetable beef, vegetable hamburger steak, vegetable beef ball, vegetable beef minced, and vegetable chicken nuggets. It is worth emphasizing that the six new products released are all specially launched by Zhi Zhuo Meat Craftsman to fit the Chinese food application scenario.

ONE

Why do plant meat bosses collectively anchor the Chinese market?

2020 is a year of wild development of plant meat in China. Big bosses rushed for food, capital injection, and B-end catering companies also launched a wave of new plant meat products. Meatsmith Zhi Zhuo entered the Chinese market by the tail of 2020. The activities initiated by Burger King on the C side have attracted widespread attention. At the same time, it will continue to sell the real fragrant "plant vegetable" Royal Castle in nearly a thousand stores across the country today.

According to public information, Zhizhuo Meatsmith was founded in 2010 in the Netherlands and joined the Unilever global family in 2018. It aims to become the world's largest and most professional plant meat producer, with operations in more than 30 countries and regions around the world. And China is an important part of Zhizhuo Meatsmith's global market.

What kind of "charm" is there in the Chinese market that attracts bigwigs to dig for money in this land?

As a mainstream consumer group, where are the key concerns of Gen Z, white-collar workers, and middle-class consumers with higher spending power for diet? healthy!

Light food catering has become a new favorite, and the size of the vegetarian group has expanded year after year. Behind this is people's emphasis on healthy eating. The "Light Food Consumption Big Data Report" released by Meituan Mai shows that in 2019, the number of searches for light food by users increased by 235.8% year-on-year; Tianyan Check data shows that 87% of light food companies were established after 2018; Foresight Research Institute According to data from, China’s population who often eat vegetarian food accounts for about 4% of the total population... Catering businesses have also taken the lead in gaining insights into consumption changes. Vigorous and vigorous innovation of plant meat.

When the fast-paced life advances people's anxiety about health, the Chinese people who pay attention to food for health, begin to look for a healthier diet. Under this background, the plant flesh that came by the wind undoubtedly took advantage of "location" and "human harmony".

Supply side

Public information shows that China, as the world's largest pork producer and consumer, accounts for more than 50% of the world's pork slaughter and pork consumption. However, China's pork is still in short supply for a long time. According to data released by the General Administration of Customs, China imported 439.33 tons of pork in 2020, a year-on-year increase of 108.34%; China imported 9.91 million tons of meat (including offal), a year-on-year increase of 60.4%. OECD data shows that by 2030, the supply gap of China's meat products is expected to reach more than 38 million tons.

The meat supply is facing a huge gap, and the corresponding animal husbandry resources and land resources are in a state of shortage.

At the same time, many people don't know that carbon dioxide emissions from animal husbandry are one of the most important sources of greenhouse gases in the earth, and it even surpasses the transportation industry. Data in a 2013 report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization showed that livestock emissions accounted for 14.5% of the total greenhouse gas emissions. A study in the journal Nature in 2018 showed that drastically reducing meat consumption is essential for mitigating climate change.

Supply gaps, resource shortages, environmental protection trends, and the combined effects of environmental factors have provided "timeliness" for the development of plant meat!

TWO

What kind of plant meat does the Chinese market need?

Occupying the time, location, and harmony of people, plant meat has made a good start in the Chinese market. Faced with the plant meat that started overseas and later became popular in China, Chinese consumers said that what the Chinese market needs are products that truly meet China's needs.

So, what kind of plant meat does the Chinese market need, and what kind of plant meat will make Chinese consumers willing to pay?

1. Meet the requirements of delicious, healthy and environmental protection

Chinese people are very picky about food. Flavor is the first decisive factor. Flavor is not only determined by taste itself. Chinese people like food with all kinds of colors, aromas, tastes and shapes. Even plant meat with healthy and environmental advantages is no exception. For Chinese people, it conforms to a healthy diet and caters to the trend of environmental protection. These are the basic elements of plant meat products. In the eyes of Chinese people, all the advantages are useless in the face of "not tasty".

This is also the reason why Zhi Zhuo Meat Craftsman specially emphasized its plant-based raw materials in the introduction of new products. Zhizhuo Meatsmith's products are mainly made from soybeans, beetroot, and malt extracts. Seemingly ordinary, it actually implies "scheming". Compared with pea protein, soy protein contains more comprehensive amino acids and is more chewy. It makes the product closer to real meat in terms of taste; compared to real meat, soy protein also contains comprehensive amino acids and higher protein content. Beetroot gives the product an attractive color to the meat, and the malt extract is used to increase the burnt aroma of the Maillard reaction after the meat is cooked.

The vegetable beef minced in the new product of Zhizhuo Meatsmith is currently widely used in the production of Chinese food ingredients such as "toppings" and "stuffings". The combination of high-quality protein + rich dietary fiber + 0 trans fatty acids, with the infinitely close to the flavor of real meat, catching up with the healthy nutrition of real meat, Zhi Zhuo meat maker is welcomed by the B-end catering customers, and is becoming a restaurant for product innovation. Popular choice.

The "primary" plant meat products meet the "health" and "environmental protection" requirements, and the "advanced" plant meat products are based on the "people" needs. Based on the higher requirements of Chinese people in terms of taste and health, the development of plant meat products is the sincerity of plant meat brands in the Chinese market.

2. Adapt to Chinese food innovation

In the early stage of plant meat entering the Chinese market, many people noticed that most plant meat products tend to be used in Western and light meals, such as burgers and light meals. This is contrary to the characteristic that Chinese food is mainly dinner, which is manifested as a variety of cooking methods.

All kinds of restaurants are more eager to expect "Chinese food" vegetable meat than consumers. At the moment when the space for Chinese food innovation is constantly being narrowed, restaurants need new ingredients like vegetable meat to promote product innovation.

The new vegetable pork product of Zhizhuo Butcher is the "popular king" of this new product. The consumption of pork in Chinese food is huge, and pork can evolve into a thousand flavors in the hands of Chinese chefs. In order to adapt to the various application scenarios of pork in Chinese food, Zhizhuo Butcher has introduced a variety of forms such as strips, cubes, meatballs, fillings, etc., which can be used in various Chinese dishes, as well as vegetable beef. At the same time, the meat maker Zhizhuo also introduced chicken and plant meat products commonly used in Chinese food.

At present, Zhizhuo Meatsmith has extensively cooperated with chains of Chinese food, fast food, hot pot, western fast food, hotel groups, food processing plants, and food retail brands to quickly penetrate the Chinese market with its delicious, diverse, healthy and safe characteristics.

THREE

Heavy endorsement, the war is about to start

Zhizhuo Meat Craftsman focuses on the Chinese market and develops new products to cater to China's needs, which adds to the Chinese vegetable meat market. Faced with the outstanding performance of Zhizhuo Meatsmith, the big names in the industry have turned into "goods-carrying people" to endorse Zhizhuo Meatsmith.

Inspire more Chinese food creation inspiration

Li Tong, the head coach of the Chinese National Culinary Team, and Geng Xiaodong, the coach of the Chinese National Culinary Team: Zhizhuo Meatsmith brings a new delicious experience to meet the needs of Chinese food. Various forms are used directly, and a variety of cooking methods are feasible, so that chefs have more space to inspire.

Leading the trend of delicious and healthy

Da Dong, the founder of Yijing Cuisine and a Chinese food leader: Plant meat has unlimited potential in Chinese food. Creative catering people need to lead the trend...The products of Zhizhuo Meatsmith meet the demand for the production of new Chinese dishes based on plants. In terms of the breakthrough of ingredients, the convenience of operation, and the popularity of flavors, they meet the needs of young diners for health, Looks and creative expectations.

In addition to delicious, it also comes with an environmental mission

Shen Hongfei, general consultant of "A Bite of China": Taste and flavor are the soul of dishes and the core of plant meat entering Chinese cuisine. However, this dish must not only be tempting to look at, smell fragrant, and unforgettable to eat, but it also carries a deeper level of mission, which is to protect the earth and respect nature... I am very looking forward to the meat maker Zhi Zhuo and more The cooperation and collision of multiple catering companies will be the advent of a new era of meat eating.

According to the latest news, starting from April 20th, the Zhizhuo Meatsmith brand and the fast food chain giant Burger King will successively sell the real fragrant "phyto-based" royal castle in nearly a thousand stores across the country, defining the new taste of vegetable meat dishes.

Compared with developed countries, China's plant meat industry started relatively late, but this does not affect China's momentum of "latecomers first." With people's expectations for flavor, taste, health and environmental protection, plant meat is coming. Under the rushing wind, the plant meat industry is unpredictable.

The common characteristics of plant meat's health, environmental protection and safety have raised the lever of development. When capital disrupts the situation frequently, big bosses march in groups, and brands that use "commonness" as "characteristics" only get admission tickets. To form barriers to competition, you need to start from various aspects such as flavor, quality, and nutritional standards. Under the fierce battle, with the intensive cultivation of major plant meat brands in the Chinese market, the future of China's plant meat industry is looking forward to.