Alternate-Meat Revolution is emerging in India - The Insight

Last month, a Twitter feud broke out between Amul India and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) after the latter urged the Indian dairy cooperative society to switch to producing vegan milk. The animal rights organization said Amul should not ‘fight the inevitable vegan global trend’.

It’s indeed true that the vegan trend is on a rise worldwide. As more and more people adopt vegan diets, there’s been an equal rise in the number of businesses opening up to cater to the market need. One of the trends of the vegan sector that is fast gaining ground globally is alternative meat, or also widely known as smart protein.

Mock meat is a food item that imitates meat in terms of texture, taste and nutrition but is made from plants. The key difference between a vegetarian product and alternate meat is that the latter attempts to appeal to non-vegetarian eaters to influence their meat buying decisions.

As Indians are fast catching up on the trend of ‘conscious’ eating, a slew of homegrown startups are taking a bite out of the alternative meat market. But, the question to ask is whether the Indian market is ready for it?

Several startups in the plant-based meat segment have been launched in the last few years. Abhishek Sinha, co-founder and CEO, Good Dot, an early entrant in the alternative meat market, said though awareness around alternative protein has increased significantly in the last one-two years, there’s still a lot of ground to cover.

“It has been easy for us to promote plant-based meat in our distribution partner, RCM’s channel, but in modern trade, general trade and D2C space, much more effort needs to be put in to create awareness. It’s an upcoming field with little awareness amongst the customers about plant-based meats,” he said. Good Dot sells ready to eat meat substitutes for INR 85-249.