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SPECIAL FOCUS

The global vegan and vegetarian meat market are
estimated to hit USD 6.3 billion by 2023, according

to a new report from Research and Markets. 1

The meat substitutes market is estimated at USD 4.63 billion
in 2018 and is projected to reach USD 6.3 billion by 2023. It is
projected to grow at a CAGR of 6.8% during the study period .
1
The market is primarily driven by factors such as changing trends
toward healthy diets, which has led to an increased demand for
clean-label products, such as plant-sourced proteins that include
tofu and seitan.
Nowadays, plant-based foods eating in western countries
can be divided into 2 types; the vegetarians (veggie) and the
vegans. The vegetarians do not consume meat, but they still opt
for dairy and egg. Meanwhile, vegans are stricter than
vegetarians, as they avoid meat products or entirely, including
honey, yeast, and white sugar (which is bleached using bone
char). They focus 100% on vegetables, fruit, grains, and seeds.
In Thailand, another type of vegetarians called “Chinese
vegetarian or Je” exists. Influenced by Chinese culture, this
group avoids the consumption of meat, egg, milk, butter, animal
products, and 5 strong smell vegetables – garlic, onion, Chinese
onion, garlic chives, and tobacco.
Vegetarian Trend in Canada
In Canada, recent research from Dalhousie University confirms
that vegetarian will become mainstream trend with surging
demand. As of now, 3.6 million Canadians – especially those
aged between 15-35 years old – are vegetarian, accounting for
10% of the country’s population, resulting in the readjustment
of Canada’s food market in response to this growing trend. 2
According to the Toronto Thai Trade Centre, Canada,
presently almost every supermarket and restaurants are
promoting that vegetarian food is added and is compulsory in
their menus to welcome vegetarian customers. The latter can
now easily reside among normal consumers and does not have
to go through troubles as they did in the past. It is obvious that
the trend is growing, thus providing a great chance for Thai
restaurant operators in Canada to add more vegetarian dishes
to meet the demand of this target group. Furthermore, it is a
great opportunity for Thai food manufacturers to develop new
vegetarian recipes to export to Canada. This includes protein
replacement products such as Textured vegetable protein,
soybean, tofu, for example. 2

10% of the country’s population
aged between 15-35 years old

3.6 million
Canadians are vegetarian

Great opportunity for Thai food products
Textured vegetable protein,
soybean, tofu

OCT 2018 FOOD FOCUS THAILAND 31