Thai food companies tap into faux-meat boom, plan to expand overseas: Report

Representative Image (Pixabay)

Food companies in Thailand are tapping into emerging plant-based meat trends in the domestic and international markets with future expansion in mind.

Among these companies is food exporter NR Instant Produce Pcl, which turns jackfruit into mock pork. So popular is the product that the company’s initial public offering (IPO) on October 9 rang in around $51.4 million, and doubled stock in intra-day trade on the debut day itself, Bloomberg reported.

The growth potential is "massive as consumer focus on health is a megatrend right now," Chief Executive Officer Danai Pathomvanich told Bloomberg. He expects the company's revenue share from plant-based products to surge to 30 percent, from its current 7 percent, within four years.

To make the most of the trend, the company is expanding domestically and internationally to the United States and China, the report said.

Others on the faux-meat trend train include Thailand’s largest meat producer Charoen Pokphand Foods Pcl, which is looking to dabble in soy protein based mock meat and top oil refiner Bangchak Corp Pcl, the article stated.

The business is so lucrative that food export in Thailand increased during the pandemic -- something that the government wants to capitalise on to make the country a food production hub.

The plant-based protein market is expected to double to $27.9 billion by 2025 from the $12.1 billion in 2019 -- with the US and Europe leading the demand, followed by Asia Pacific and South America, the article said citing a MarketsandMarkets report.

In Thailand itself, the country's strong Buddhist traditions are combing with a major push on social media platforms to hike demand for vegetarian and vegan food. Notably, non-meat eaters in the country jumped to 12 percent in 2017 from 4 percent in 2013, as per Thailand’s National Statistics Office data.