Firm aims to plant new idea of mooncake fillings

The Mid-Autumn Festival, an annual celebration of togetherness when the moon is at its fullest, is right around the corner, on Sept 13, which means shop shelves will soon be teeming with a dazzling array of mooncakes.

This year, a new offering of the traditional pastry will make its debut and test how Chinese consumers react to the faux meat craze that has overtaken some countries.

A plant-based protein food manufacturer named Zhenrou, in cooperation with Beijing Technology and Business University, will roll out mooncakes that use soy and pea protein as fillings to replace pork, priced at about 15 yuan ($2.10) each, the China Food Newspaper reported.

The company will offer 18,000 mooncakes for sale in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, around the festival time.

"At present, there is not sufficient research data to support sizable production," Lyu Zhongming, company founder, told online short-video site Pear Video. "We are unsure of how the market will react to our products."

Consumers who took part in sample tasting gave positive feedback, Lyu said. "I'll give our mooncakes 70 out of 100 points. The main downside is with the texture and chewiness."

The upcoming rollout of these savory treats is likely to be a harbinger for more plant-based alternatives in Chinese markets.

E-commerce giant Alibaba announced this month that stewed pork balls made with "artificial meat" will be unveiled at its annual Maker Festival, a yearly event that showcases creative ideas from young entrepreneurs.

"Most of the so-called artificial meat or fake meat in the market falls into the category of plant-based meat," said Zhou Jingwen, a professor at the National Engineering Laboratory for Cereal Fermentation Technology at Jiangnan University in Wuxi, Jiangsu province.

The other major segment of meat substitutes is cell-based meat, which is grown in the lab by taking a sample of stem cells and replicating them in a culture, he said.

"The plant-based meat sector is developing rapidly thanks to advanced technologies that allow us to extrude and expand plant fibers to mimic the texture of real meat," Zhou said. "We have also discovered special enzymes that can improve similarity in terms of taste and look."

But he said most of the plant-based products are substitutes for ground meat. "It's still difficult to create a piece of steak," he said. "The overall research in China is at an initial stage."

Some consumers, however, harbor deep doubts about the innovation.

Liang Jiajun, a former pilot in Beijing, cringed at the idea of faux meat.

"The first thought that crossed my mind is that they are filled with additives, coloring and flavoring," she said. "Not even the benefit of reducing cholesterol levels appeals to me."

Liu Xinyi, 27, said she ordered a veggie burger with a plant-based pork patty once when traveling in Texas in the United States.

"I was drawn to this item on the menu due to its lower calories. It contained about 400 calories, compared with about 900 calories for a regular burger." she said. "But I won't try it again. I could tell it was fake meat."

Even her friends with vegetarian dietary habits rarely buy fake meat products.

"It appears to me that they don't bother to cheat their palates with these meat alternatives. They just eat a ton of salad to keep up their energy," Liu said.

Despite doubts and complaints, research efforts into better-tasting meat alternatives are intensifying, and the sector has attracted major investments.

Zhou, the professor, said faux meat is now increasingly considered a significant step toward helping feed a swelling population and curtailing climate change.

Vegetable-based meat is more expensive than real meat in some Western countries. But it is likely that the price gap will soon be closed, according to an expert in biodiversity protection and green development who declined to be named for this story.

In the Chinese market, fake meat products are expected to first emerge as high-end, healthy and fashionable alternatives to real meat, first targeting more affluent consumers.

"In the future, maybe more attention will be paid to their positive effects on environment," the biodiversity expert said.

wangxiaoyu@chinadaily.com.cn