The Vegetarian Butcher sells meat; but their chicken chunks and fried minced meat might not be exactly what they look like. Can these meat substitutes replace real meat in the future?
While the worldwide meat production has tripled over the last four decades and increased 20 percent in just the last 10 years, a small Dutch company seems to have found a growing market for meat replacers.
And that could be a good thing, because the meat production comes with a prize tag. This large-scale industry has serious implications for the world's climate. The world's growing appetite for meat is one of the biggest reasons greenhouse gas emissions are still growing rapidly.
"Meat consumption is not very sustainable," Atze Jan van der Goot, food process engineer at the Wageningen University told Xinha. "Growing food for animals requires a lot of water and land. It takes about 6 kilograms of wheat flower to cultivate one kilogram of meat," van der Goot said.
"So it would be better to consume plant proteins directly, especially here in the western world, where we consume a lot of animal based products," he added.
But instead of encouraging people to become vegetarian, the Vegetarian Butcher has done something different: They imitate the taste of meat.
"We make products that have the exact same taste, texture and nutrition value as meat," Paul Blom, manager product innovation at the Vegetarian Butcher explained to Xinhua.
The idea of making meat replacers however is not very new. When entering any supermarket, consumers find a whole range of meat substitutes in the shelves. And the offer is growing.
But according to food expert Irma Kromhout-van Kapelle most of these meat substitutes are not as healthy as they look like. "I always discourage my clients to eat them. They are full of salt and e-numbers. Eating a real vegetarian dish with a variety of legumes is definitely preferable."
According to Kromhout-van Kapelle, the products of the Vegetarian Butcher have a better quality, although not every product is entirely free of animal based products. "Besides, the products are a bit too expensive for me. I would only buy them on special occasions."
Van der Goot thinks products from the Vegetarian Butcher are still a luxury product. "If it would compete with very cheap meat products, that would make it easier for consumer to make the switch," van der Goot told Xinhua.
Another challenge is that consumers don't easily give up their old habits. And that could stand in the way of the success of meat replacers, van der Goot thinks.
"I think the main issue is consumers are a bit addicted to meat. Maybe that is because meat is associated with happiness, with health, with something to celebrate. It is still seen as a very healthy product, so giving it up is very difficult for people," van der Goot said.
Source: Xinhua
