Innova Market Insights recently released the 2022 Asia Pacific Meat Substitutes Insights Report. The report combines macro trends, consumer diet research, and related new product tracking in the past five years to analyze and explore the status and prospects of meat substitutes in the Asia-Pacific region. For health-conscious Asia-Pacific consumers, meat substitutes are already an integral part of the daily diet, and the emergence of plant-based innovations makes this category exciting.

Consumption habits

Innova Market Insights will survey consumers in ten countries including China, India, Indonesia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Mexico, and Brazil on the dietary habits of meat, dairy products, and alternative proteins in 2021. The results show that there are two main types of meat eating habits in the Asia-Pacific region: “controlled but not completely excluded” and “meat-free diets”.

Plant-based diets are gradually being accepted by consumers in Asia Pacific: Taking plant milk as an example, in 2021, nearly 60% of consumers in China, India and Indonesia will buy plant milk. In contrast, the consumption ratio of plant-based meat and plant-based fish/seafood is slightly lower, accounting for about 40% of the total number of respondents, which means that the latter still has a lot of room for development in the Asia-Pacific market: the popularity of plant-based milk It is bound to drive the consumption of plant meat and plant fish/seafood.

When asked “how often on average do they consume meat substitutes”, nearly 60% of respondents in the Asia-Pacific region answered “twice a week (or more)”, which is much higher than the global average. From the above survey results, it can be concluded that meat substitutes are an indispensable part of the diet of Asia-Pacific consumers. The main reason is that soy products such as tofu and dried bean curd are local traditional foods and are frequent customers on the dining table of every household.

New product release trends

New product launches for meat substitutes in the Asia-Pacific region are also active, with a compound annual growth rate of +41% in the past five years. New red meat/pork alternatives have a CAGR of +66% and are the most active sub-category among them.

Health factors are the main reason why consumers in Asia Pacific buy plant-based meat products, and companies are placing more emphasis on their health benefits in product claims. Plant-based meat products are seen as immune-boosting and gut-healthy foods, and their fat content is lower than that of real meat. Health functions have become a key factor in attracting consumers to buy.

In addition to the above-mentioned health functions, the large-scale entry of high technology has also made plant-based meat products one of the popular categories in recent years, attracting the attention of a large number of investors and consumers. Innova Market Insights lists “Plant-Based: A New World of Innovation” as one of the top 10 global food and beverage trends in 2022: The focus of research and development on plant-based foods will shift from imitating meat, fish and dairy products to optimizing the product itself.