Japan’s plant-based protein trends are for health and convenience
As a university student in the late 80’s with very little spending money, I remember coming across fair-trade coffee and chocolate in a hippy-run shop in a California suburb. I was won over by the idea and went without a few other groceries that week to adjust for the splurge, but I felt good about the purchase and had a sense of being part of a more ethical movement. That elation only lasted to the first disappointed sip.
Thankfully fair-trade coffee has come a long way since then and gourmet coffee roasters across the world are showing us how ethical collaborations with growers provides us with better brews that support the sustainable people-planet-profit balance. Even coffee giants embrace fair-trade.
Plantbased proteins have had a similar growing pains as fair-trade over the last 40+ years– disappointing many well-intentioned shoppers and diners. We have seen so much progress in the last 5 years thanks to new technology that have transformed plants into almost identical meat and fish substitutes.
The motivation to choose a plantbased option seems very different in Japan and the West. In Western countries where most major chains have plantbased options, the meat alternative market is booming. Meat-eaters looking for the taste and convenience of meat, without the heavy ethical, health and environmental impacts- seem to be the main market.
In the US, PIPLSAY did a great survey and found that most people who were trying the plantbased meats said they would choose it again for health, flavor, and the environment.
For that Japan market, I had predicted that 2020 Japan would show huge progress in vegan options as it was on target to be a huge year for inbound tourism. I may have missed the mark as Covid19 hit and the Olympics and other international tourism plans stalled. Although Tokyo still had the Olympics in 2021, there was a huge drop in inbound demand for plantbased and I saw many eateries drop options from their menus.
In 2021, we also saw big players enter the market only to drop the options a few months later– like the MosBurger’s Green Burger and Burger King’s Plantbased V2 Whopper.
Some chains have had longer lasting power such as the Doutor Coffee shop’s soy-burger and the range of vegan-vegetarian items at Coco’s Ichibanya. The plantbased soy-meat koroke and curry options at Coco have even expanded and most shops now offer the plantbased dishes on a multilingual menu.
It’s interesting to see 100-year-old heritage businesses in Japan like Marukome (1854~) and Osawa macrobiotic (1948~) slowly taking over shelves as the main suppliers of plantbased proteins and soy meats in Japan. These companies have been working since 2015 to expand their lines of healthy, fermented foods like miso, koji, alongside vegan noodles, soup stocks and packaged meals, gluten products and plantbased meats.
I think these long-loved and trustworthy companies have helped create a health-focused view of plantbased proteins in Japan. There is also the convenience of airtight, ready-to-eat proteins you can keep in your cupboard for a long time. According to market trend researchers Meros, the long-shelf life of plantbased meats has helped the market grow during the coronavirus stay-at-home demands.
Unlike western plantbased trends toward animal welfare and a concern for the environmental impacts of the meat and fish industry, there is a lack of general awareness of those issues.
..consumer awareness of the concept of animal welfare is also still very low in Japan.. An online survey conducted by the Animal Rights Center in March 2020 showed that 85.8% of consumers responded that they had never heard about animal welfare. Meros Consulting Report 2/26/2021
Despite this lack of awareness, the market continues to grow. Costco Japan, supermarkets and online Amazon and Rakuten retailers now also offer a variety of Japan-made plantbased proteins. Costco Japan has added a vegetarian burger to its take-out menu and options in the deli in addition to Japan-made and imported meat alternatives. Convenience stores in Japan also carry soy-meat options of ready made meals and snacks.
In an interview on the Seeking Sustainability Live talkshow in 2020, the founder of Veggino and sustainable business Ekolokal co-founder, Noriko Shindo gave us insights into her family’s plantbased journey and the hurdles of being a vegan in Japan.
Other organizations like Japan’s VegeProject and Tokyo Vegan have helped work with policymakers to make sure there is a shift to greater awareness of veganism as well as clear labels for plantbased products in Japan. In terms of mainstream development, it may be more of the Japanese market seeking the longer shelf life convenience and healthy benefits of meat alternatives like soy that is driving the market.
Heart-healthy fruit and vegetable swaps for meat, fish and dairy have long been available and showing up more in cooking shows and media aimed at foodies, chefs and home cooks, I like this list of 11 Whole Food Plantbased Swaps for recipes by MamaSezz.
It will be interesting to see if the pricepoint can shift to make meat and fish alternatives more price competitive as well. Moving forward, the pricepoint and scale are still key underlying issues. As long as governments prioritize the necessity of meat, fish and dairy by using taxpayer money to keep meat, fish and dairy industry profitable and at scale, we are not seeing the full potential of healthier natural and more sustainable proteins. To meet carbon neutral targets, we should see big changes in Japan and around the world in 2022 and beyond.
I am seeing price competitiveness with plantbased cheeses and proteins which are made in Japan– especially those which rely on sales across Asia. In fact, a lot of companies in Japan which have consistent plantbased options, like Cocos Ichibanya, are also very successful in Asia. Some Japan plantbased startups are actually moving operations to other cities in Asia. I am sure there are labor access and cost issues to consider as well as finding receptive markets for meat-alternatives.
In 2021, a new startup founded by Ryo Shirai in Shinjuku Tokyo called Next-Meats has a mission to help address the climate destruction of the meat industry. The meat-alternatives they sell look, taste and smell similar to animal meats, yet are made from a soy and pea protein source. They are also the first Japanese business to launch plantbased fish-alternative products like canned ‘tuna’. Next-meats is only for sale online in Japan, or in a handful of Tokyo shops, and are pushing main operations and productions to Singapore.
I think the time when we have to suffer through plantbased meat alternatives that are tough, dry and tasteless may be behind us. Like the fair-trade coffee market, I think we will see major chains in Japan also adopting and promoting these more sustainable plantbased options to Japanese consumers who are ready for healthier alternatives as long as they are price competitive and convenient.
One concern in Japan is the ingredient sourcing. Overall, the plantbased proteins are much healthier for sustainability in terms of people, planet and even long-term stable profits, however, there is a sustainability sourcing issue if the main ingredient is soy. Soy is in most foods here from tofu to miso to the fresh soybean snacks at bars. This staple food is not grown in Japan, and most imports come from the US and China.
It would be great to see more plantbased protein innovation from made-in-Japan locally sourced ingredients such as Kombu kelp-seaweed. Seaweed has the added benefit of cleaning the ocean water and soaking in more carbon than trees, but unfortunately is also being negatively affected by climate change. A topic I hope to dive into more in a future post.
Overall, I’m encouraged and excited to see more sustainable food choices become more mainstream in Japan, and I look forward to seeing how these alternative meats are included in the traditionally-rich local food cultures.
