unMeat: Century Pacific Food, Inc. Steps Into The Global Plant-Based Market

Philippine conglomerate Century Pacific Food Inc. introduces unMEAT, their foray into the world of plant-based products

Century Pacific Food Inc. (CNPF) one of the largest food companies in the Philippines and the market leader for canned tuna has birthed an exciting new brand during this pandemic. Meet unMEAT, a 100 per cent plant-based product that has its eyes set on global domination.

Health, fitness, and accessible nutrition has always been important to this conglomerate, so this transition to plant-based products seemed par for the course. On top of that, through the years they have been steadfast in pursuing their goal to the Filipino people about making their creations accessible yet sustainable.

Above Photo: Greg Banzon / Century Pacific Food Inc.

Above Photo: Nikki Dizon / Century Pacific Food Inc.

ACCESSIBILITY

"In the Philippines, plant-based food options are limited – they’re usually expensive, not palatable or hard to find. For unMEAT, we use simple ingredients by extracting the nutrients from real food rather than using synthetic ingredients and have found ways to make it more affordable and tastier, while retaining all the health-giving benefits of plant-based food,” said CNPF Executive Chairman Christopher Po.

One of the key reasons the Philippines is slow to catch onto the healthy-eating trend (aside from the fact that we love meat) can be attributed to high barriers to entry such as price points or lack of options, which is something CNPF aims to change. They are hyper-focused on ensuring that their product ranges remain affordable and yet serve a broad spectrum of socio-economic classes in the markets they are in.

See more: Hear From Chuiqui Mabanta, A Pioneer In The Philippine Plant Based Eating Scene

HOW IT'S MADE

“UnMEAT is the result of the challenge we posed to our Nutrition Science team to come up with a meat alternative that tastes and looks like meat while providing all the healthy benefits of a plant-based food,” explains Po. They have optimised levels of nutrients such as omega 3, DHA, iron and protein inherent to the raw materials or through fortification to best serve our needs and soothe our worries about the possibility of ingesting ‘fake food’.

Nikki Dizon, Century Inc.’s general manager explains that unMEAT’s ingredients are pretty simple - including non-GMO soy protein, vegetable oil, onion, wheat, salt, to name a few. “We use ingredients you can easily pronounce, understand, and will see in your own pantries,” she says. Using select natural ingredients and flavours extracted from plant sources, and applying a high-quality yet straightforward process allowed them to develop tasty products with cleaner labels that consumers appreciate.

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HEALTH AND CONSUMER DEMANDS

“The idea behind UnMeat was to create a line of healthier, “better for you” and “better for the planet” products,” stresses Greg Banzon, chief operating officer and executive vice president of Century Food. He further explains that they noticed a growing number of consumers globally becoming increasingly concerned with adapting to healthier lifestyles. “Coming up with a range of plant-based meat alternatives is in line with our mission to continue delivering affordable protein and nutrition while recognizing these ongoing shifts in consumer demand,” he adds.

During these last two years, the importance of health and wellness has become a priority for most of us, and Po agrees: “The launch of unMEAT answers the growing demand of consumers for healthier, plant-based food options.”

Dizon notes that from being a niche category, they have seen “steady growth as Filipinos open up to and embrace plant-based eating. This increased demand is coming not necessarily from the exclusively vegan or vegetarian population [either]”.

GLOBAL EXPANSION

In fact, Century Food group shared with me that the plant-based market is estimated to be valued at $20B globally, growing at least 15 per cent annually. Moreover, they revealed that studies show that close to 50 per cent of consumers, especially in developed markets call themselves flexitarians.

In the country, UnMEAT’s cholesterol-free, trans-fat-free, egg-free, and dairy-free products were rolled out with Shakey’s at first, then with other local brands and now to be exported to 80 countries. “Our goal is to be among the key players for plant-based food here and internationally. As such, we have been presenting UnMeat to retailers and distributors in North America, Europe, Australia, the Middle East and key markets here in Asia. The response has been very favourable and we have actually landed products already in the Middle East, have also shipped our first few containers to the USA, and China,” says Banzon.

See more: How To Shift To A Plant Based Diet

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SUSTAINABILITY

By promoting unMEAT internationally, CNPF is cementing the Philippines’ place in the global arena of plant-based and sustainable foods. Not only is this uplifting the local economy, but also increasing our social capital while at it.

“It is projected that the global population will be around ten billion by 2050,” Banzon exclaims. “It is imperative that food companies develop sustainable and easily regenerative alternative sources of nutrition to future proof global food security. As among the pioneering companies in plant-based food, we aim to be a key player domestically and in the international space. At Century Pacific Food, we believe that overall sustainability is essential to our longevity.”

Topics

vegan dairy free meat free plant-based vegetarian