No animals were harmed in the making of this ‘meat’ burger

Smith Taweelerdniti, Managing Director of his family business Nithi Foods, based in Chaing Mai, Thailand, used to give talks on global food trends back in 2017, most of which were related to healthy diet.

One day, he asked himself how many of the good health-related trends Nithi followed and implemented in its products.

“We realised we didn’t follow any of the good food trends,” he tells e27,” because we were not sure what trend was right or what was wrong — there were so many diet gurus and diet styles in the market. So I embarked on a journey to find out more and started reading books to gain knowledge of the health-related foods.”

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After a lot of reading, he zeroed in on a theme: plant-based diet.

Turning vegetarian

“The very next day (12 January 2018), I decided to turn vegetarian. Then I started reading and watching more videos on vegans. This is when I chanced upon a video of Beyond Meat, which makes meat out of plant ingredients which still tasted as good as real meat,” he recounts. “This inspired me to start something similar in my home country.”

‘Let’s Plant Meat’ was founded in March 2020 by Taweelerdniti (CEO), as a division of Nithi Foods (It is currently in the process of spinning off as a separate entity).

It is an alternative meat made out of four plants — soy, rice, coconut and beetroot.

Currently, the startup offers two products: plant-based burger patty and minced meat.

“The burger patty, once cooked, will have the aroma of grilled meat, plus herbs and spices. The texture is firm outside but it is tender inside — similar to the texture you expect in a real meat burger,” says Taweelerdniti. “We cover both western and eastern cooking styles with strong emphasis on Asian consumers demand in tastes, sizes and price.”

The process

It starts from plant protein extracts (soy and rice protein). The proteins are then made into texturised structure using high heat and pressure.

“We then add these proteins to water, add coconut fat, and mix them with many ingredients to perform the desired function such as binding, colouring, flavouring to give it a umami taste, and then freeze quickly. It then becomes frozen plant-based meat ready to be shipped for cooking anywhere in the world,” he explains.

Plants-based meat tastes as good as animal meat, and some can’t even distinguish the difference. It has also incorporated so many advancements in food science and technology.

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“Compared to animal meat, plant-based meat has no anti-biotic, cholesterol, animal proteins or fats, which are key contributors of cardiovascular disease and certain types of cancer,” he shares.

Besides the health benefits, plants-based meats also have some environmental benefits and can even stop climate change. Says he: “It uses much less energy, clean water, land to produce plant-based meat than those in production of animal meat.”

As per a study conducted by the University of Michigan’s Center for Sustainable Systems, making one plant-based burger consumed 99 per cent less water, 93 per cent less land, 90 per cent fewer green house gas emission, 46 per cent less energy than a real beef burger.

“To top it all, I think the taste of plants-based meat has got much better than in the past. The success of Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods have been real inspiration,” he says.

Opportunities

Let’s Plant Meat (a startup incubated by Space-F, a startup programme run by National Innovation Agency) primarily targets vegans, vegetarians and anyone who cares about one’s health. “Our products will be focusing more on mainstream meat items that can be made from plants. We will be working on marinated meat and sausages products soon,” he discloses.

Thai food is one of the most popular cuisines in the world. In addition to the popular Tom Yum Kung, Pad Thai, and spicy curries, the country also has a lot of meat-based cuisines like skewer meat, spicy sausages, and fish cakes.

“We can now offer meat-based recipes using plant-based option for exports. We have so many inquiries from frozen meal and retort pouch companies, who want to incorporate our plant-based meat into their products,” Taweelerdniti says.

According to the founder, Thailand as a food manufacturing country has a lot to offer to the world; it has skilled workers, good supporting ecosystems and cost-effectiveness.

“The domestic market is interesting. People are more concerned about health than never before. With the growth of social media and small influencers, people are now more open to accepting better options that make sense for them. We hope to offer that choice. Our products are now selling in more than 120 outlets of major supermarket in Thailand,” he discloses.

“It also makes sense to turn Thailand to a hub for production of plant-based meat for distribution in this region and beyond. We are working with potential distribution partners in Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore, Japan, India and China,” he adds.

As per a report by Markets And Markets, the global plant-based meat market is estimated to account for a value of US$12.1 billion in 2019 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 15 per cent from 2019 to reach a value of US$27.9 billion by 2025.

The Asia Pacific market is projected to be dominated by China. The increasing environmental impact due to the excessive animal killing for meat consumption has created significant demand for plant-based meat in China.

The Chinese market is projected to witness significant growth due to the increase in demand from consumers for meatless food products, says this report.

Competition

Apart from Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods in the global market, Let’s Plant Meat has some local competitors, such as More Meat and Meat Avatar. There is also news of big players like CPF planning to enter this space.

“In Southeast Asia alone, there is a number of interesting startups such as Phuture Foods in Malaysia and WTH Foods in the Philippines. Hong Kong-based Omni Meat is probably the leader in Asia. Karana of Singapore is also a whole-plant option (which recently raised US$1.7 million led by Cocoon Capital). It will be a fun to watch this space in 2021,” he laughs.

Let’s Plant Meat is currently being funded by Nithi Foods. Taweelerdniti says the startup would like to achieve some significant milestones before raising external investments but is open to investors whose interest and value align with their’s.

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“We are working hard to grow our sales, launch some more products, expand into co-manufacturing facility for 10x capacity. We also have plans to launch our products in all major markets, deepen our research in protein technology, build a brand, and add some more key personnel,” he signs off.

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Image Credit: Let’s Plant Meat

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