According to sources demand for plant-based protein foods is surging in Asia, suppliers say, as suspicion over possible links between wild animal meat and the new coronavirus drives some consumers, particularly in hong kong and mainland china, to rethink diets. Though still a tiny business compared to Asia's giant meat supply chain, vegetarian alternatives to meat, dairy and seafood are gaining growing customers from people like Hong Kong-based fitness trainer Mike Lee.
"Because of the coronavirus, people have started to pay more attention to their diet and health," said Lee, 40, serving up burritos in his kitchen made using a plant-based pork alternative. "People now are more afraid of getting sick." Even before the coronavirus pandemic, consultancy Euromonitor last year predicted China's 'free from meat' market, including plant-based products meant to replace meat, would be worth nearly $12 billion by 2023, up from just under $10 billion in 2018.
That had already attracted interest from leading US players like Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods, with coffee chain Starbucks Corp and Yum China's KFC fast food chain announcing plans this week to get in on the act with plant-based product promotions. "Ironically and unfortunately we have such a dramatic outbreak, devastating everyone and everywhere, which becomes this massive catalyst," said David Yeung, founder of Hong Kong-based Green monday, which supplies products from Beyond Meat across Asia. The global death toll from the pandemic has now topped 170,000, with more than 4,600 reported dead in mainland China.Amid restaurant closures, social distancing restrictions and growing numbers of people cooking more at home, online food purchases have surged in many markets in Asia. Distributors say plant-based goods, mostly priced competitively compared with animal products, have proved no exception. Online food group Deliveroo, which delivers meals including Impossible burgers around hong kong, said first-quarter growth in orders of vegan food in the city matched a doubling in orders of other food compared with a year earlier.
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