THE Board of Investment (BOI) is bullish on the prospects of plant-based meat products given that demand is seen to be rising.
BOI Executive Director Maria Corazon Halili-Dichosa said in a statement on Wednesday that consumers are looking for meat alternatives amid concerns over African swine fever and avian flu.
“The market is attractive now more than ever as there has been a conscious ‘movement’ by the consumers to make more informed choices on the type of food they should be eating,” Halili-Dichosa said. “Plant-based meat consumption has already been rising even prior to the Covid-19 pandemic; but the recent increase in demand is too dramatic to be ignored by both the government and the business community.”
Plant-based food usually comprises vegetables, fruits, whole grains, nuts, seeds or legumes.
The BOI, an attached agency of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), said it is working with local researchers, start-ups and other industry partners in this food segment. It said that the growing market for meat alternatives signals a “major transformation” in food production and consumption.
Last year, the BOI noted that the global plant-based meat alternative market was valued around $8 billion. Barclays expect that value to increase up to $140 billion by 2029.
The agency providing incentives to investors said that the plant-based market for Asia Pacific is expected to generate revenues of $30 billion at a compound annual growth rate of 18.9 percent.
Given the bullish prospects for the product, the DTI-Export Marketing Bureau encourages exporters to throw their hat in the ring.
“Promoting Philippine-made plant-based products requires a whole-of-government approach,” DTI Undersecretary Abdulgani Macatoman earlier said. Macatoman, who heads the Office of Special Concerns of the DTI, added theywill work with the agriculture department to maintain an adequate supply, “while also working with our foreign trade posts to secure buyers of our products.”
The DTI seeks to secure market access into the plant-based meat exports industry, especially as the Philippines is hopeful of successfully securing a seat in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), according to Trade Undersecretary Ceferino S. Rodolfo.
Rodolfo earlier disclosed that in February, the Philippines officially expressed to New Zealand, the depository country of the CPTPP, of its interest in joining the mega-trade pact.
The CPTPP is a free trade agreement among Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, New Zealand, Singapore and Vietnam signed on March 8, 2018, in Santiago, Chile.