HCMCity (VNS/VNA) - Demand for meat alternatives and plant-basedproducts has grown significantly and will continue to rise in the globalmarket, including Vietnam, experts have said.

A study by US market intelligence and consultancy firm Polaris Market Researchsaid the global plant-based meat market is likely to grow at 15.8 percent ayear to reach 35.8 billion USD by 2027 compared to 11.1 billion USD in 2019.

The main factors driving the trend are health concerns due to the upsurgein food-borne illnesses through animal meat, awareness of food safety andnutrition and environmental concerns. 

In Vietnam, according to global data and consulting company Kantar Worldpanel,consumers are eating and drinking plant-based alternatives that are perceivedto be natural and healthier.

Speaking at a seminar on green food potentials and trends in HCM City lastweek, Ho Thanh Nhien, founder of Bewina Company, a plant-based food supplier,said with their living standards rising Vietnamese are increasingly concernedabout the safety of their daily meals and drinks.

Consumers have in recent years become interested in safe, organic andplant-based foods, with many opting for a vegetarian diet, she said.

Vu Kim Hanh, chairwoman of the Business Association of High Quality VietnameseGoods, said: “The plant-based food market is attractive.

“Being an agricultural country, Vietnamese firms could tap this niche market athome and abroad.”

Nhien, saying the global plant-based meat industry has become lucrative in thelast five years, hoped that one day it would source everything fromVietnam.

With more people shifting away from meats towards cleaner, plant-based proteinalternatives, many food manufacturers ranging from start-ups to leadingconsumer goods, and even meat companies, are embracing plant-based meatproducts to meet the demand, she added.

Firms are also conducting research to come up with kitchenware that help retainthe nutrition and colour of foods and do not generate toxins during cooking,speakers told the seminar.

Ly Ngoc Minh, general director of Minh Long I Co Ltd, said kitchenutensils help increase the taste of food, but cooking also affects the qualityof food, directly affecting human health.

That is why his company constantly researches and develops premium porcelaincooking product lines (macrobiotic cookware) which do not need water whenstir-frying or steaming food, he claimed./.