It looks like China’s artificial meat boom will continue in 2020. The country is aiming to develop a national standard for plant-based meat substitutes, according to Wang Shouwei, director of China Meat Food Research Center.
The country is also starting strategic research into cell-cultured meat, grown in vitro from animal cells, Wang said during the China Association for Science and Technology’s conference last week.
China eats an estimated 28% of the world’s meat, and Western meat substitute companies like Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods have been eyeing a piece of China’s meat pie. The African swine fever outbreak made substitutes even more enticing for foreign brands, but they’ll have to face local rivals like Zhenmeat and Omnipork.
But as with any type of food in China, concerns have been raised about food safety. Last year, the Hong Kong Consumer Council examined 35 samples of vegetarian meat, saying all of them failed to fully comply with nutrition labeling requirements.