The rise of the flexitarian diet trend across the globe has been driven by consumer demand for healthy, sustainable and ethical substitutes for meat. The COVID-19 pandemic is likely to fuel this trend further as consumer skepticism surrounding the safety of meat consumption grows and they search for cleaner alternatives.
The immense success of companies like Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods has drawn a great deal of attention to the plant-based meat category which saw growth rates of 17% and was valued at approximately $3.7 billion in the USA. In comparison, total U.S. retail food sales grew just 2% during the same period in 2018. Research indicates that the growth of alternative meat products will continue to accelerate in 2020 but the direction will go well beyond plant-based burgers.
FSL-Aromatech has extensive experience masking the off-notes of plant-based proteins and replacing them with the delicious meat flavors consumers crave. In collaboration with our Meat Ingredients unit, we have developed a range of burgers, chicken tikka nuggets and bacon suitable to vegetarians and all religious beliefs.
We have also developed an innovative and delicious assortment of Arabian plant-based meat analogues such as Shish Taouk, Cello Kebab and Shawarma strips with a soy and pea-protein base. These products are the first of their kind in the Middle East and we are now developing them further for customers who wish to pioneer in this field and grab a share of the fast-growing plant-based meat market.
