Smart Indulgence

Apart from this huge cohort of casual non-vegetarians, there are also hardcore vegetarians who would never fancy eating mock meat or anything closer to the texture of meat. “The ethics issue around meat and environment isn’t resonating as much in India as elsewhere. Mock meat will not appeal to a veggie and that limits the market potential in India,” says Kannan Sitaram, Venture Partner, Fireside Ventures.

India is a highly protein-deficient country and what Indian consumers really crave for is a high-protein alternative and not as much a replacement for meat like in the US or the rest of the world. “A non-vegetarian in India is not the same as a non-vegetarian in the US or Europe where they are eating meat at least once a day. A large percentage of the population eats vegetarian meals and that’s where the gap is,” says Siddharth Ramasubramanian, Founder and CEO, Vegolution. His product, Hello Tempayy, which entered the market earlier this year, is a look-alike of paneer, prepared by culturing and fermenting soyabean and water.

Ramasubramanian says Hello Tempayy is a plant-based protein alternative for a vegetarian diet. “Most vegetarians we spoke to were tired of eating paneer. They didn’t have any indulgence food. The yearning for something delicious besides paneer was clearly there. They also wanted to have something that was familiar, so we needed to introduce something which was within the context of the modern Indian kitchen. They wanted something as versatile as potato or paneer,” he adds.

Prior to launching her own plant-based company, Shraddha Bhansali, Co-Founder, EVO Foods, was running a vegan restaurant, Candy Green, where she found out that mock meat was an under-performer. “While there were vegans who did miss the taste of meat, there was also a large segment of consumers who were vegetarians due to religious reasons, and they were turned off because mock meat didn’t fit into their food culturally. The non-vegetarians, on the other hand, said they did not want fake meat.”

It was clear to Bhansali that she needed to come up with something that was not religiously offensive and at the same time easily adaptable. “In our surveys, we asked people whether they were vegetarians or non-vegetarians and they told us they were vegetarians, with eggs or without eggs. We realised that everyone has a different degree of vegetarianism with eggs; some have eggs only in cakes. Also, a lot of doctors prescribe eggs for protein. So, we came up with the idea of making a plant-based egg.” Her brand, EVO, set to be launched within the next couple of months, is a liquid egg made out of moong, chickpeas and peas. Bhansali says her plant-based egg is not just comparable to chicken eggs in terms of protein content, but is also fortified with Vitamin B12 and D3, and is without cholesterol.

Mock Meat

A vegetarian protein option such as tempe or even an egg does seem to be more likely to be accepted by the Indian consumer than mock meat. However, Deshpande of GFI believes it important for plant-based meat players to look beyond soya nuggets. “If any non-vegetarian tries soya nuggets, he/she would call it an inferior substitute. The next-generation products have to focus on replicating the sensory experience of meat in order to be accepted.”

Considering the awareness about adverse repercussions of consuming too much meat, Verma says there is a growing segment of Indians open to the idea of replacing their animal diet with plant-based protein on at least certain days of the week. “There is a rise of flexitarians — non-veg eaters/lovers, experimenting with plant-based options, very niche at the moment, but are steadily increasing. That would be the next big market opportunity.”

But like Deshpande, Verma also believes that the challenge would be to offer the taste and texture of real meat. Blue Tribe Foods, which launched plant-based chicken keema and chicken nuggets earlier this year, is already aspiring to become a Rs 1-crore brand by the end of the year. Chief Commercial Officer Sohil Wazir is targeting flexitarians. “We are not asking people to go vegan. All we are telling them is that if you are eating meat four times a week, you can substitute that once or twice a week with plant-based meat and get the same experience. That, in itself, will mean a massive impact on the amount of meat that is consumed,” he adds.

Bollywood couple Genelia and Riteish Deshmukh is also launching mock meat brand Imagine Meats. “We have tried and matched the taste as close to non-vegetarian food as possible. India has a lot of guilty nonveg eaters. They don’t eat at home. We want to tell them that they can sit and eat at home guilt-free as they are eating a plant,” says Genelia D’Souza Deshmukh, Co-founder, Imagine Meats. The company has a portfolio of 12 products, including seekh kebabs, keema, biryani, butter chicken and chicken tikka masala. “We were clear we would Indianise. We do have nuggets and burger patties, but the main focus is taking our food to Indians, so that they can eat guilt-free,” she says. They plan to roll out their brand in Mumbai in August.

Bangalore-based Evolved Foods will also launch its plant-based protein and meat. While the plant protein is meant for vegetarians, the meat is going to be positioned as an alternative to conventional chicken and mutton. “Most hardcore vegetarians don’t want to experiment with a product that is meaty. We wanted to give them something which is high in protein (16 grams) and low in fat (7 grams) and, more importantly, not meaty. Plant meat is meaty in texture, and the whole idea was to create a credible replacement to meat,” says Roma Roy Choudhury, COO, Evolved Foods.

As an investor, Sitaram of Fireside Ventures says he would rather place his bet on a protein option targeted at vegetarian diet rather than mock meat. “Veganism will pick up momentum in India. There is opportunity for almond and oat milk. A vegetarian option of protein, which has higher protein content than paneer, and which is not positioned as meat, will work better in the country.”

Narendra Parthsarathy, Chief Farmer, Founder and CEO of omnichannel meat brand, Nandu’s, believes that calling a plant-based nutrition product as chicken or meat creates confusion among consumers. “It’s a beautiful ingredient and the product needs to stand on its own feet. The moment a vegetarian hears the word meat, he/she will say no to it. On the other hand, a conventional meat eater may not want to eat mock meat,” he adds.

The Ecosystem

Though plant-based nutrition in India is nascent and largely limited to soya chunks, the rising awareness of the concept has already resulted in the emergence of a plant-based ecosystem. Not only are entrepreneurs launching brands, they are manufacturing ingredients as well. “There is a lot of work to be done across the value chain. Making these ingredients available to entrepreneurs so that they can make next-generation meat substitutes is also a major business opportunity. We have businesses being set up just to investigate the use of chickpeas in next-generation plant-based meat, egg and dairy products,” explains GFI’s Deshpande.

Start-ups such as BVeg Foods are not just experimenting with ready-to-cook plant-based protein snacks but also investing in manufacturing facilities to make these products. “Our factory on the outskirts of Delhi will be a game-changer in the plant-based products category. A lot of people are asking us to supply bulk products and for that we need specialised equipment that will help us create scale in the mock meat category,” says Co-founder Prateek Ghai. He is in talks with quick service restaurants planning to launch mock meat as part of their menu. In fact, Domino’s Pizza was the first to launch a limited-edition mock meat pizza last year.

Global plant-based ingredient companies are also eyeing the Indian market. Imagine Meats, for instance, has partnered with America’s ADM to launch its plant-based range in India. “We are giving them a complete farm-to-fork solution. Right from protein to flavour blends, we have helped them with the entire formulation. Since taste, spice blends and fibrosity of the products are important, we gave them concept demos. If they wanted chicken tikka, we demonstrated a chicken tikka or a seekh kebab,” explains Sanjay Laud, Managing Director, Nutrition, ADM India. Apart from Imagine Meats, ADM is working with a host of other plant-based nutrition start-ups as well. “We are in talks with leading food majors as all of them have started evaluating their plant-based strategies,” says Laud.

“Texturisers and binders get manufactured in Europe and are imported. Proteins are imported from the US. We are not making proteins in India as the market is very nascent. We will first develop the market and when the base is strong integrate backwards and start manufacturing,” he adds.

Challenges Galore

Heavyweights such as Ruchi Soya, Adani Wilmar and Marico don’t intend to look beyond the traditional soya chunks market since that is the only area where they can build scale. “We see huge opportunities for growth in soya and will surely tap that market going forward,” says Baba Ramdev, Founder, Patanjali Ayurved. Patanjali acquired Ruchi Soya in 2019.

“We are a mass player, so pricing is critical. Soya chunks allow us to be relevant to the masses as pricing is affordable. But other plant-based foods have huge potential as well. We are watching the space and will ensure we are early movers in the plant-based protein category,” says Ajay Motwani, Chief Marketing Officer, Adani Wilmar.

Marico India recently launched Saffola Mealmaker Soya Chunks. “We have been witnessing a shift towards high-protein, high-nutrition foods over the last couple of years, a trend driven by changing consumer sensibilities. Today, people want healthy snacking options that fit into their lifestyles. The industry is focusing on developing affordable and healthy snacks such as ready-to-eat foods, breakfast cereals and high-protein foods and beverages,” says Sanjay Mishra, COO (India Sales) and CEO (New Business), Marico Ltd.