‘Vegetarian meat’: The new alternative to traditional poultry and mutton

India is renowned for its delicious chicken, mutton and fish dishes; it also happens to be one of the countries with the lowest meat consumption rates in the world. The art of replacing meat with vegetarian options has been perfected over time. But these days, Indians are not the only ones seeking out vegetarian options. Plant-based vegetarian meats are becoming increasingly popular, resulting in multibillion-dollar companies like Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat. According to Vox, investors raised $3.1 billion in 2020 from the alternative protein sector.

Vegetarian meat

Plant-based meat demand has driven new growth for vegetarian burgers, which have existed for decades. The product is also known as vegan meat, meat alternative, mock meat, imitation meat, or vegetarian meat. Instead of being harvested from animals, plant-based meat is made from legumes and lentils. Real meat is designed and produced to imitate the texture, taste, colour, smell and mouthfeel of these products. Alternative meat products have been offered by companies to replicate meat products such as beef, poultry and pork.

Why are plant-based meats are popular?

Plant-based meat is certainly on the rise due to the increasing number of people following veganism as a lifestyle, the abstinence from animal products. One of the main reasons for growth is the decision by alternative meat companies to promote their products to not only vegans, vegetarians and others of a similar bent, but also to traditional meat-eaters. In order to meet the global demand for meat, traditional animal rearing practices have been identified as one of the major reasons for environmental problems like excessive emissions, deforestation, and shrinking wildlife habitats.

Lab-grown meat

Alternative ‘meat’ is also a big draw for those who are increasingly concerned about the climate meltdowns happening around us. As research continues into lab-grown meat, where cells are used to grow meat inside a laboratory so that meat can be harvested without killing any live animals, alternative meats are also generating a lot of interest.