It has to be green, healthy and tasty

Ms Li (real name withheld on request) - a 23-year-old environmentalist - was invited to savor a bowl of dumplings stuffed with vegan pork as she visited a restaurant doing an elaborate display for its latest product. The menu claims the special pork dumplings are cooked with plant-based meat, which has lower calories and fat than real pork. Li was pleased to find that vegan meat has almost the same taste and fragrance as pork, and could offer a healthy lifestyle.

"I hadn't tried it before; it tastes good and seems healthier," she says. More importantly, when she found that the vegan meat production process generates lower carbon dioxide emissions than real pork, she says she would go for more plant-based products in future.

The special meat that Li consumed comes from Green Monday - a company that specializes in plant-based food and lifestyle. The Hong Kong-based enterprise has become one of the leading plant-based meat brands in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Eyeing a low-carbon and low-calorie lifestyle, food aficionados are going for plant-based food and beverages. Along with other plant-based companies on the mainland, David Yeung, co-founder and CEO of Green Monday, sees protein alternatives swarming the food industry.

According to market research company Euromonitor's projections, the market for plant-based products in China would hit $14.2 billion by 2025.

"If you had been to a large supermarket three years ago, you could hardly find plant-based products. But these products are now very common," notes Yeung. "It's a huge breakthrough."

"Young consumers are concerned about their health. Many of them are aware of the importance of physical fitness. They are also paying attention to issues like global warming," he says. Plant-based meat will help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions largely in farming.