Plant-based alternative meats for Chinese food – dim sum, hotpot, mooncakes and more – set for launch
Created to be the ‘Chinese version of Impossible Foods’, Zhenmeat offers plant- and fungus-based protein products tailored for Chinese cuisine
Founder Vince Lu says there is a big gap in China’s plant-based meat market as producers target vegetarians, not the general public who consume meat
Elaine Yau
Published: 6:15pm, 4 Sep, 2019
Vince Lu, founder of plant-based alternative meat company Zhenmeat, showcasing mooncakes made with his company’s products.
Lean, muscular and sharply dressed, Beijing-based entrepreneur Vince Lu Zhongming has come a long way from the overweight and aimless university student he was a few years ago.
While studying materials science in the US at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Lu struggled with what to do with his life. He was eating a lot of processed meat and gained 20 kilograms (44 pounds) in a semester, leaving him unhappy with his self-image.
A near-death experience sprang him from his funk: he lost control of his car while driving in freezing temperatures in Illinois and it crashed.
“It was the worst accident I have ever experienced,” Lu says. “I was rescued with no injuries, but was told I had cheated death. Since then, I have been filled with gratitude. I want to value life and give back to society.”
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Lu before he lost weight.
The crash prompted him to get back into shape, revert to a healthier diet and become a regular gym goer. He studied protein properties to learn how to better fuel his workouts. After graduating he set up a start-up called Fuchouzhe, which makes protein bars to boost nutrition and sports performance.
Based on Fuchouzhe’s success, he went further. He launched a plant-based meat start-up – Zhenmeat – with the goal of developing it into a Chinese version of US-based Impossible Foods.
With African swine fever prompting widespread pig culls and rising calls for reduced meat consumption in China, overseas substitute meat producers are salivating over the huge China market.
According to a report by The Good Food Institute released in May, the market size of China’s domestic plant-based meat industry in 2018 was about 6.1 billion yuan (US$850 million), 14.3 per cent higher than the previous year. The US market size that year was US$684 million, up 23 per cent over 2017.
Although less than 10 per cent of Chinese participants surveyed as part of the report identified as vegan, vegetarian or pescatarian (fish but not meat eaters), 86.7 per cent had consumed plant-based meat products.
Plant-based meat mooncakes from Zhenmeat.
US plant-based meat firm Beyond Meat plans to start distributing in China in the second half of this year. Also planning a mainland China launch later this year is Hong Kong-based Right Treat, which developed pork alternative Omnipork from peas, soy and mushroom proteins. After entering the Hong Kong market last year, US-based Impossible Foods plans to launch its products in mainland China within the next two years.
Lu’s Beijing-based start-up Zhenmeat is stealing a march on these overseas rivals, rolling out its products this month.
“Running Fuchouzhe allows me to understand protein’s nutritional properties and supply chains. China’s breakneck economic growth has led to a big demand for quality protein,” he says.
Peppers stuffed with Zhenmeat products being served in a Chinese restaurant.
Ahead of the launch tomorrow (September 5), Lu has been touring China to promote Zhenmeat’s products, which include plant-based sausage and steak, and faux meat mooncakes and meatballs.
In an April talk at the Food and Beverage Innovation Forum in Shanghai, Lu described the products as a mixture of plant- and fungus-based protein including pea, mushroom, soy and brown rice protein, with pea protein being the main ingredient.
Zhenmeat sources organic peas from Canada. Peas have high nutritional value and contain eight amino acids – more than soybeans, Lu says, adding the other sources of protein in the products ensure they are comprehensive in nutrition. People need 18 kinds of amino acids, which single sources of beans don’t provide, he says.
I am 180cm tall but weighed 100kg, which was quite terrible. Within a year of my diet switch, I lost 20kg. Plant-based protein is the food of the future
Vince Lu
While Impossible Foods’ Impossible Burger uses soy protein, pea protein is increasingly being embraced as a main ingredient for plant-based alternative meat producers. Beyond Meat uses pea instead of soy protein. California-based Ripple Foods, meanwhile, produces pea-protein alternative dairy products.
“There’s a big gap in the plant-based meat market in China as the current Chinese plant-based meat manufacturers mostly serve the vegetarian market instead of the general public who consume meat,” Lu says.
“The traditional vegetarian faux meat [served in Chinese Buddhist restaurants] has a heavy taste of beans. The taste, texture, colour and smell does not resemble that of real meat. The success of those American companies [like Impossible Foods] has inspired us to make plant-based meat that tastes like real meat.”
Protein bars from Fuchouzhe.
Lu credited the success of Impossible Foods to its use of heme, a molecule containing iron responsible for making plant-based meat taste like real meat.
“Heme is found in animals’ blood and muscle, and also plants. No mainland meat alternative producers use heme in their products, so Chinese consumers are sacrificing the gastronomic satisfaction coming from eating meat when they consume Chinese plant-based products,” Lu says.
Impossible Foods has secured the patent for its use of heme in its meat substitutes, so Zhenmeat is studying how to replicate heme using its own technology, which may take up to three years.
“Currently, our products use natural flavour extracts and spices to imitate the taste of meat. Our products have higher protein content than real meat. The quality fats in our products come from coconut oils,” Lu says, adding that without heme, his products can attain only 70 per cent of the desired target for taste and texture.
Lu sampling Zhenmeat products with a Chinese chef.
Zhenmeat has so far secured five million yuan from Chinese investors. Unlike overseas plant-based meat producers which offer mostly burger patties and other Western food offerings, Lu says his products will target Chinese cuisine.
“Our products will be sold online and offered in various Chinese restaurants including dim sum, Sichuan and hotpot eateries. We have no plans to expand outside China,” he says.
Lu is convinced the business will do well, having personally benefited from cutting out meat.
“I am 180cm tall but weighed 100kg, which was quite terrible. Within a year of my diet switch, I lost 20kg. Plant-based protein is the food of the future.”
This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as: for substitute meats, the stakes couldn’t be higher
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