Korean consumers sink their teeth into meatless meat market

Substitutes used in meat alternatives [JOONGANG ILBO]

Meatless meats may have been viewed as a fad in the past, but products have evolved so much that they can now be found on the plates of vegans, vegetarians and meat eaters alike.

In the past, meat substitutes used to be labeled as artificial meat, fake meat or “bean meat” in Korea, according to the Korea Agro Fisheries and Food Trade Corporation. But nowadays, terms like “meat substitute” or “meat alternative” are more commonly used to refer to food products that can replace meat products such as poultry, beef and pork.

Meat substitutes can be divided into plant-based meat, microbial protein, cultured meat, insect protein and algae protein.

Of these, plant-based meat products take the highest proportion in the meat substitute market.

Plant-based meats are commonly made with proteins that have been extracted from soy, peas, beans, mushrooms, mung beans or wheat gluten, to construct a food product that mimics the taste, texture and nutritional content of meat.

The meat substitute market is rapidly growing in Korea. According to market research company Euromonitor, the domestic meat substitute market marked a 35 percent on-year increase from $10.3 million in 2020 to $13.9 million 2021.

Compared to the global meatless meat market, which was valued at $5.36 billion in 2021, the Korean market is only at its beginning stages. But it has seen substantial on-year growth that many experts and companies expect to continue.

Meat substitutes first gained popularity around 10 years ago in the United States, where an average citizen consumes some 120 kilograms of meat annually. Then, as livestock exports slowed with the onset of Covid-19, meat substitutes saw a boom in early 2020. Compared to 2019, the product’s market in the U.S. grew by 45 percent after March 2020.

But also behind the rise of substitute meat is the younger generation who tend to mirror their ideologies and beliefs into their consumption behavior.

“Many in their 20s and 30s identify themselves as citizens of the world,” said Jeon Mi-young, a researcher at Seoul National University’s Consumption Trend Analysis Center. “So instead of dividing people into different nationalities or race, they think of everyone, including plants and animals, as equal beings on Earth.”

Livestock is one of the biggest drivers of greenhouse gas-intensive activities that many in the environmentally-aware younger generation are conscious of.

[JOONGANG ILBO]

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, the amount of greenhouse gases released by livestock cultivation around the world amounts to 14.5 percent of the total greenhouse gases that are emitted each year globally. Of the different livestock, cows emit the most with 65 percent.

In terms of the carbon footprint produced from a food item’s life cycle, beef is also the biggest producer with each kilogram emitting 99.48 kilograms (219 pounds) of carbon dioxide over its production cycle.

Meanwhile, plant-based products such as rice, tofu, tomatoes and potatoes produce only 4.45 kilograms, 3.16 kilograms, 2.09 kilograms and 0.46 kilograms of greenhouse gases, respectively.

Dietary concerns and food safety issues arising from conventional meat are additional factors that have contributed to the rise of meat substitutes.

According to Korea Agro Fisheries and Food Trade Corporation’s “2020 report on meat substitute’s big data,” 70.2 percent of meatless meat consumers answered that they bought such products as part of a healthy diet.

Substitute meat is a healthier option than actual meat which has a high saturated fat and cholesterol content.

Meat substitutes also provide an alternative to meat which is limited in supply by nature.

“We need meat substitutes to balance the global supply and demand of conventional meat,” said Yun So-hyeon, CEO of meat substitute brand ALTist.

According to Yun, some countries, most notably China, monopolizes the meat market, thus disrupting the global meat supply chain.

“China signs five-year contracts with Australia and Brazil to indiscriminately import all their beef, regardless of different cuts,” said Yun.

“This is why meat substitutes are no longer a choice but a necessity.”

Spotting the potential growth in the meat substitute market, many large Korean food companies now sell their own meat substitute products.

Shinsegae Food developed its own plant-based sliced ham that has been sold in ham and arugula sandwiches in Starbucks since last year.

CJ CheilJedang, a subsidiary of CJ that specializes in food, has developed its own meat substitute brand titled “PlanTable” and is now selling dumplings with plant-based meat fillings.

Pulmone, another large food company in Korea, has created a plant-based bulgogi, or Korean barbeque beef, flavored sauce.

Nongshim will open a vegan restaurant called “Veggie Garden” in April at Lotte World Mall in Songpa District, southern Seoul. Its menu consists of dishes made with 100 percent vegetable ingredients.

Chicken brands, cafes and convenience stores are also jumping on the bandwagon.

In February last year, cafe Twosome Place and food company Dongwon F&B collaborated to create two types of sandwiches with plant-based meat: a Beyond Meat double mushroom panini and Beyond Meat curry panini. The two companies used meatless meat from Beyond Meat, a leading U.S. brand of plant-based meat.

Local bakery brand Paris Baguette also entered the meat substitute market in November last year with a plant-based bulgogi salad wrap.

According to SPC, which owns Paris Baguette, the company used a local plant-based meat Unlimeat that is produced by Zikooin. Unlimeat is made from upcycled grains, oats and rice, according to the company website.

Protein substitutes are not only limited to meat.

As consumers grow increasingly concerned about food safety in relation to seafood due to pollution in the sea, substitutes made from ingredients such as beans and tomato are gaining interest.

In November last year, local convenience store chain CU launched vegan samgak gimbap, or triangular-shaped seaweed rice rolls, and vegan gimbap (seaweed rice rolls) with plant-based tuna fillings.

According to CU, the sale of vegan products at the store during the January-to-October period rose 53.2 percent on year. On Pocket CU, a CU app, the top two items in the samgak gimbap category between Dec. 1 through Dec. 8 were vegan products, with vegan tuna mayonnaise samgak gimbap topping the list.

CU’s plant-based tuna is produced by ALTist.

While the meat substitute market is expanding, some conventional meat companies argue that it is not fair to market meatless meat with conventional meat.

“Selling products that are not actually meat in the meat aisle negatively influences the maintenance of the domestic livestock industry,” said Lee Seung-ho, chairman of Livestock-Related Organizations Council.

The conventional meat industry’s backlash against meat substitutes arose when Korea’s largest retailer Emart began to sell meat substitute products in the same aisle as other livestock products.

The conventional meat companies protested that selling the meat substitute products with actual meat products was a way of undermining the consumers and demanded that the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs not label meat substitute products as meat or dairy.

Moreover, meat companies insist that they are also acting for the greater good of the people and the environment.

“Workers in the livestock industry are also aware of the environmental effects of meat products and are always trying new ways to decrease our greenhouse gas emissions, such as using feed to reduce methane and exploring low-carbon livestock cultivation methods,” said Kim Yeong-won, policy director of National Korean Beef Association.

Kim added that he hopes the industry can find a step-by-step solution for meat companies to stay competitive in the market while also being environmentally friendly.

But consumer trends show that the rise of substitute meats does not necessarily signal the end of conventional meat consumption.

According to a report by the Korea Vegan Union in 2017, around two to three percent of the entire Korean population or between 1 million to 1.5 million people are estimated to be vegetarians. This is 10 times more than the 150,000 people who were vegetarians in 2018.

Although the number of vegetarians is growing, only 500,000 are vegans, otherwise known as those who follow a stricter form of a vegetarian diet and abstain from eating all animal products including dairy and eggs.

“The younger generation who largely take part in a vegetarian diet still believe that food needs to taste good,” said Jeon Mi-young, a researcher at the Seoul National University’s Consumption Trend Analysis Center.

“Instead of being on a strict diet of eating only meat substitutes or plant-based products, they believe that it is okay to be flexible to sustain behaviors for a longer period.”

These individuals are termed flexitarians or semi-vegetarians.

“As people increasingly strive for a gourmet diet, diversity of foods has become an important factor,” said Kang Ji-yeong, a food columnist and food culture consultant.

“Most consumers do not concern themselves about whether the food in front of them is animal-based or plant-based. Rather, they like having a wider range of choice to enjoy more delicious foods. This is why the meat industry and the meat substitute industry need to progress together.”

BY OH YOO-JIN [lee.jian@joongang.co.kr]