Shinsegae Foods to expand meat alternative business in the U.S., Korea

[Photo provided by Shinsegae Foods]

Shinsegae Food Inc., a unit of South Korea’s retail giant Shinsegae Group, plans to sell hamburgers made of vegetable ingredients, including beans, as a new menu at No Brand Burger stores on April 22 to mark Earth Day and meat substitutes gain more popularity.

Starting in April, No Brand Burgers will sell hamburgers made of 100 percent vegetable ingredients, including cheese and eggs, according to Shinsegae Group on Sunday. Pork and blood-free Sundae, or Korean-style sausage made from vegetable, and whipped cream that does not contain any milk will also be available at supermarkets soon. This comes as meat alternatives, which could only be tasted at some vegan restaurants, are gaining interest.

The reason Shinsegae Food is focusing on the meat alternative business is because the growth potential of the market is expected to be very high as more consumers become conscious of health, animal welfare and the global environment. According to market research firm Global Market Data, the global alternative meat market, which was worth $5.3 billion in 2019, is expected to double in size in six years to $11 billion in 2025.

Shinsegae Food started research and development on meat alternative in 2016. When Chief Executive Officer Song Hyun-suk took office in October 2020, he selected meat alternative as the company’s future new growth engine and began to foster the business. The company plans to invest $4 million in its U.S. subsidiary, Better Foods, in the first half to expand its operations in the world’s largest meat substitute market, after spending $3 million to set up the subsidiary in July last year.

“The domestic alternative meat market is still small, but the company will be able to achieve hundreds of billions of won in sales in the larger U.S. market in three to four years,” Song said. “We will push to list the meat alternative subsidiary established in Delaware on the U.S. stock exchange within five years.”

Shinsegae Food uses ‘better meat,’ a meat alternative that combines protein extracted from soybeans with vegetable oils to make the taste and texture similar to that of meat. There have been burgers using vegetable patties, but it is the first burger in Korea that that will serve with cheese and eggs made from vegetable.

Shinsegae Food has set this year as the first year of growth in its meat alternative business. From early this month, its new better meat-based vegan canned ham started selling at online malls, such as Market Curly, and meat alternative sliced ham for sandwiches is slated to be sold at large discount stores from March. In addition, oat milk, 100 percent vegetable whipped cream and vegetable sundae that do not use pig intestines and blood, are currently in the final stage of development and are expected to be released within the year.

The domestic canned ham market, in which Spam accounts for more than 60 percent, is a very large market worth 700 billion won each year. Better meat-based canned ham is made of 100% vegetable ingredients, including soybean protein and dietary fiber, and contains no animal fat or cholesterol. It also contains no artificial coloring agents or preservatives such as sodium nitrite. At a vegetarian fair held in New York last September, better meat canned ham was praised by local visitors for having almost the same taste and texture as the existing processed meat canned ham.

Last month, Shinsegae Food opened a restaurant specializing in meat alternative, ‘The Better Vecchia & Nuovo,’ at the SSG Food Market in Seoul. This restaurant serves various dishes, such as hamburgers and hamburger steaks using better meat. Since April last year, the Seoul Metropolitan Government has been offering sandwiches with Shinsegae Food’s meat alternative cold cuts once a month at its cafeteria.