[Courtesy of Dongwon F&B]
South Korea's vegan meat market has been rapidly growing to meet demands of some 2 million vegans. Data released by the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation showed that the country's vegan meat market which stood at 22.7 billion won ($17.4 million) in 2020 will reach 29.4 billion won in 2025. In July 2021, Shinsegae Food, a food company affiliated with Shinsegae, released vegan cold for Starbucks sandwiches nationwide.
Dongwon F&B has been producing South Korea's favorite tuna brand called "Dongwon Tuna." The canned tuna brand is often consumed along with rice and spicy instant noodles known as ramyeon. "Since 1982, more than seven billion Dongwon Tuna products have been sold," Dongwon F&B's spokesperson Jeon Sae-won told Aju Daily. He said the canned tuna brand with annual sales of 500 billion won is also favored by Japanese and Chinese consumers.
Dongwon F&B said in a statement on March 7 that the vegan food brand called "MyPlant" was released. The company said the brand has more dietary fiber than its original tuna brand while calories were reduced by up to 31 percent. Along with tuna, MyPlant also contains plant-based dumpling products.
According to the Korea Rural Economic Institute, the global plant-based food market is projected to reach $17.8 billion by 2025. Targeting the global market, Seoul-based food company Pulmuone partnered with the South Korean office of International Flavors & Fragrances, a United States-based food and beverage ingredient developer, in 2021. The company is also supplying its vegan meat products to 18 American universities.
Vegan meat is also gaining recognition for its low-carbon characteristics. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), greenhouse gases emitted by the livestock industry account for some 15 percent of the world's total greenhouse gas emissions. By reducing the consumption of meat and dairy products, the total amount of emissions from animal-based food can be significantly reduced.
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