Plant-based meat: A fad or the future of food?

Recently, I saw this advertisement promoting a vegetarian burger at KFC which is not actually vegan nor vegetarian. It caught my attention because it is indeed a meatless burger but yet it’s not meant to be eaten by vegans and vegetarians. This led me to wonder “who is this burger actually meant for?”

A rising trend among restaurants and fast-food chains

There has been a rising trend in the consumption of plant-based meat. While Singapore is just picking up on this trend, there has been an explosion of plant-based meat menus all around the US. Fast-food chains and restaurants like Burger King, The Cheesecake Factory, McDonald’s, and many more others are collaborating with plant-based meat producers such as Impossible Burger and Beyond Meat to whip out new menus for us consumers. Yet with this rising trend in the consumption of plant-based meat menu, are this plant-based diet really healthier for us?

Plant-based meat vs meat-based diet

In terms of comparison, the closest food we can compare is Burger King’s Whopper vs their impossible burger. A quick google search tells me that in terms of fats and calories, there is no much of a difference between both burgers (40 grams of fat, 11 grams of saturated fat, and 660 calories for the Whopper vs 40 grams of fat, 12 grams of saturated fat, and 630 calories for the impossible Whopper). Price-wise, the Impossible Whopper costs slightly more ($1 in the US) due to the higher cost of production. However, one benefit of a plant-based diet is that it can reduce heart disease as well as cancer.

Is this the future of the meat industry?

Global meat consumption has been on the rise despite this new trend, with huge contributions coming from emerging markets due to the rise in affluence in those countries. For the developed nations, there has been a cut back on meat consumption in certain countries as people shift towards living a healthier lifestyle and also a shift towards animal ethics. Certainly, there has been an increase in flexitarians (aka semi-vegetarianism) and a shift in lifestyle towards healthy living. Fast-food chains are taking this opportunity to re-brand themselves as a “healthier brand” (certainly in the case for KFC :D).

I could see that this plant-based meat would be a huge catalyst for this lifestyle shift as it would be a good substitute for real meat. However, this is not a good substitute for fresh vegetables and it might give us a false sense of belief that we are eating something healthier even though the nutrition says otherwise. After all, these plant-based meats are still processed food with a high level of sodium and can never beat fresh vegetables.

I do believe that there will be a shift in the meat industry, not just towards plant based-food but also lab-grown meat. Globally, many companies these days are exploring healthier, more efficient, and cost-effective ways to shake up the food industry. While this industry and technology is still at the development stage, companies like Beyond Meat (NASDAQ: BYND) have been well-received by the market, soaring around 7x since they debuted in NASDAQ. I believe that as more players enter this industry, there will be more innovative food products for us consumers and hopefully, there will be more plant-based products that actually taste good and are healthy at the same time.