By Sairaj Dhond, Founder and CEO of Wakao Foods
India is viewed as a significant emerging market for plant-based meat products, but creating a sustainable category will be difficult.According to a November OECD report, India will consume six million tonnes of meat in 2020, or 4.6 kilograms per person. Non-vegetarian meals are now consumed by nearly half of India’s population once a week.
At the same time, there is a growing interest in modern-style plant-based meat products in the country. India’s market is still in its early stages, but it is growing. According to Carmen Bryan, a consumer analyst at GlobalData, the Indian meat substitutes market generated retail sales of US$220.8 million in 2020 and is expected to reach $292.9 million by 2025, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.8%. In May 2021, the US department of agriculture published a report that described India as “a burgeoning market for plant-based meat substitutes”. The report said consumers in India have a long history of consuming soybeans, jackfruit, dairy, and pulses for protein and added they view plant-based meat substitutes as “highly innovative, trendy, healthy and environmentally friendly”.
Shoppers in India, the report suggested, are looking to buy plant-based meat products “due to their perceived health benefits, including the prevention of non-communicable diseases, digestive disorders and obesity”. Covid-19 has also fuelled “the rising popularity” of plant-based meat in India products because they are viewed as “immunity-boosting,” the report noted.
The plant-based meat market in India is still in its infancy, but investors and entrepreneurs are generally optimistic about the sector’s potential, even if there is some uncertainty about the true extent to which the market can grow.
India, like China, has a history of its own type of meat-alternative products, with a number of domestic businesses offering soy chunks and soy nuggets for decades but, it is claimed, without really building demand or a market.
Because of the country’s size and the importance of local cuisines, India is more complicated. Every state has different taste preferences. Consumers in the northern city of Lucknow may prefer the subtlety of galouti kebabs, whereas complex chicken chettinad is preferred throughout much of southern India.There is a growing interest in identifying emerging markets that may offer lucrative opportunities for plant-based meat producers. Because of the size of the potential prize in India, the country is attracting attention and investment, but companies looking to build businesses should be aware that much work lies ahead and that, even then, a market may not form to compete with those in more developed economies.
Plant-based meats appear to have peaked before they could really take off. During the first few weeks of the pandemic, retail fake-meat sales increased by 200%, and the publicity helped the sector secure more than $2 billion in funding. However, with the exception of a brief spike in 2020, the foods have not sold well. According to the Plant-Based Foods Association’s most recent data, sales in the United States will remain flat in 2021. Global annual retail dollar sales growth has also slowed. They increased by 17% last year to $5.6 billion, after increasing by 33% in 2020.
According to the association, an estimated 79 million US households are purchasing meatless meat alternatives, which is little changed from 2020. The question remains whether customers buying comparable products are simply trying new foods or returning to buy more. So far, retail data shows that repeat purchasing rates have increased by inches, rising from 78% of customers in 2020 to 79% in 2021.
“Repeat purchasing is where plant-based meat hasn’t cracked the code,” said Catha Groot, a partner at Radicle Impact, the fund co-founded by Kat Taylor, the wife of billionaire Tom Steyer. “Plant-based dairy is significantly ahead.
