Just the plants, ma'am.
Just the plants, ma'am.
What I talk about when I talk about plant-based in India, upcycled coffee everything, EV pizza cars and autonomous tractors.
Several readers sent me the recent news about Beyond Meat’s ongoing problems –– poor sales, slumping sausages, and big layoffs. I applaud the company for being first out of the gate to re-imagine “meat.” I sympathize with the company because we wouldn’t know about all of its problems if it wasn’t also a publicly-traded company. (Impossible Foods has plenty of turmoil that’s hidden because it remains private.)
The plant-based sector isn’t solely a US thing, but that’s where the media is focused. In an August newsletter I wondered whether the term “plant-based” existed beyond the US. This came up for me again when I spoke to a class at Berkeley Haas this week. In the Q & A at the end, a student asked why there was so much interest and investment into plant-based foods. “Why not just eat dhal,” the graduate student proposed, suggesting a popular Indian dish made with lentils. It’s a good question, but not new. (People resist change, they like what they know, meat is meat.) It’s going to take, I think, two generations before we may adopt a simple approach like just eating more plants.
But speaking of dhal, I’ve been curious about the plant-based ecosystem in India. My understanding of the culture is limited to my two trips to India. To learn more, I talked to Tarun and Dhaval. The pair have day jobs in the US, and collaborate on a great newsletter I subscribe to called Simmer. I also interviewed Kartik, the founder of Evo Foods that makes a plant-based hard-boiled egg, which I tasted at Future Food Tech last April.
Before moving to the US, Dhaval, who’s vegetarian, said his only experience with anything meat-like was soy chunks. “They came in dried packages that are boiled and cooked with spices.” Tarun, his newsletter partner, echoed this: “Traditional plant based meat alternatives have existed in India for quite a long time.” He recalled the soy chunks in similar ways: “dried nuggets of soybean paste.” The texture he said was chewy like mutton. Neither description sounded appealing.
Many like to point to a strongly vegetarian base in India. To clarify, about 4 in 10 Indian adults say they are vegetarian according to a 2021 survey by the Pew Institute. Because many religions prohibit meat in some way, 81% of Indians limit their meat consumption. In this BBC article, researchers determined that only about 20% of adults were actually vegetarian and concluded that meat consumption (beef in this case) was eaten by 15%––much higher than any other estimates. This is a startling shift. It also highlights that what we say and what we do are quite different when it comes to food.
With more people eating meat in India, would there ever be a growing need for plant-based alternatives? “I see plant-based meats becoming a once a week indulgence in the urban India/metro cities but there’s still a long way for them to be adopted by masses,” Tarun said.
Despite this, Kartik was hopeful about Evo’s launch in India. His “egg” has already launched in several restaurants, and is launching soon at Nature’s Basket–an urban grocer with locations in Mumbai, Bangalore and Delhi. Evo is also making a mousse (yes please!). Did he think people would buy it? It comes down to “price and convenience, not even convenience,” he answered. “Just price. As long as it’s the same as animal they’ll give it a try.” Instead of the “plant-based” term, which Kartik said wasn’t working, Evo is considering calling it “chicken-less eggs.”
In the US, you can buy the popular Just Egg made primarily from mung bean protein. JustEgg has found tremendous success here. So good the company says that in 2022 it sold an additional 100M+ egg equivalents, and it’s projecting a 20+% growth year-over-year.
Was there demand for egg alternatives in India? “As far as the Indian market is concerned there is no egg substitute,” Kartik told me. But, “people don’t have that much variety in breakfast.” He pointed me to ID Fresh Food that makes “squeeze and fry” refrigerated batters with revenue close to $100 million dollars; and Gooddot, which produces plant-based Eggless Bhurji, UnMutton Curry, and Vegicken. The main ingredient in these is soy protein isolate, so while the ingredients aren’t new, it’s nice to see products that match the country versus shopping out yet another hamburger.
Similar to the conversation in the US, much comes down to price. People in India are “waking up to alt protein, but growth is really slow. The target consumer is not willing to pay more and plant-based is having a lot of challenges,” Kartik said. ”Pricing will have to be different from how companies are placing these products in the US where plant-based options, more often than not, cost more than the actual animal product,” Tarun said.
As it works to prove plant-based can be profitable in India, Evo Foods is making plans to enter the US market. If you’re going to Expo West next March, be sure to track down their booth.
Abbreviated tidbits:
Upcycled coffee into cups and watches. Make coffee with balls instead of pods. Use coffee grounds for your skincare.
In this week's Simmer newsletter, I read that Domino’s is rolling out a fleet of 800 new Chevy Bolt EV cars to deliver pizza. The chain says the cars will make it more climate friendly and help it attract new drivers. While the 2023 Bolt has better range than my own EV at 259 miles, I’m a little suspect whether it will be an employment draw. Also launching this week is a fully autonomous tractor from Monarch Tractor that can work 24/7 with or without a human. Monthly data fees not included in the $70K sticker price.
Where you can find me:
On Tuesday December 6th, I’m appearing on a panel at NYU titled, “Co-opting AI in Agriculture.” In it, we’ll examine the social, environmental, and policy implications of the intersection between AI and agriculture. (Don’t worry, it won’t be quite so heady.) It’s virtual and free to attend.
I wrote about kefir, a fermented dairy drink, for Consumer Reports. In it, I answer all the Qs––what it is, which type to buy, and whether it’s better for your microbiome than probiotic supplements?
Wait I actually love Nutrela's soy chunks! They may not sound appealing, but even though I grew up eating and loving meat, I still enjoyed them. And my mom made them for me wayyy before plant-based eating was on most people's radar, so that's pretty cool haha
"Let them eat dhal” -- thanks, Marie Antoinette! Not everyone has the luxury of cooking from scratch every day, like your mom did for you until you left home five minutes ago.
Convenience does seem to be under-acknowledged. Being self-employed, I have lots more flexibility than the average working woman, but even I have to default to stuff I can throw in the air fryer for 15 minutes and then stick in a tortilla with chopped veggies and ranch dressing. So to Kartik's point, I'm privileged enough to grumble about price, but still opt for convenience.