Findings

This RFP attracted great research projects, with the majority focusing on understanding consumer sentiments and demand for alternatives to animal-based food products in China. Other projects scoped various aspects of animal agriculture in China and Southeast Asia. 

Alternatives to animal-based food products

The completed projects in this area suggest a promising market potential for plant-based meats (PBM) and other meat alternatives in China. A survey of Chinese consumers found that 40% were actively reducing their meat consumption. 60% of respondents had tried modern PBM products, almost half of whom would buy it. A substantial portion of consumers who had not eaten PBM (non-triers) intended to try (42%) or purchase (31%) it. Younger age was the strongest predictor of intent to purchase PBM. 

Generation Z and millennials (age 18-39 years) may be more likely to consistently consume PBM, with 65% of those surveyed eating PBM a second time and 15% of those consuming PBM regularly. This group primarily learned about PBM through social media, but family members, medical professionals and friends were the most influential in trying PBM. The majority of those who tried PBM had received a positive message or recommendation compared to only 50% of non-triers. About half of these consumers reported first eating PBM in a restaurant and initially trying beef (primarily steak), pork, or chicken (primarily nuggets).

When it comes to perceptions, the strongest predictor of Chinese consumers’ intent to buy was judging these products to be healthy, followed by being safe, having a good mouthfeel, being cool/ trendy and animal-friendly. These findings are consistent with a survey conducted with online Chinese residents shortly after the COVID-19 outbreak, the majority of whom were aware that farmed animals have caused disease outbreaks. For Generation Z and Millenials, taste was the most important motivator for trying PBM, but it was also a barrier.2  Other product characteristics also took this dual role including food safety, price, smell, and nutrition. Similarly, Chinese media coverage of Starbucks and Kentucky Fried Chicken’s PBM product debuts most frequently discussed health and safety as benefits and price and texture as drawbacks.

Product labeling that highlights consumers’ common motivators for trying PBM has the potential to displace their animal alternatives. In a discrete choice experiment with Chinese consumers, food identity labels that connected the animal welfare, environmental, and health benefits of the product to the purchaser’s identity simultaneously reduced demand for traditional pork and increased relative demand for plant-based and cultured pork. The authors’ market share analysis estimated that among urban consumers, especially those who are slightly older, have higher incomes, and currently buy meat products in specialty stores rather than wet markets or supermarkets, tofu-based alternatives can capture 25% of the market, new-generation plant-based alternatives 21%, and cultivated pork 11%.

Animal Agriculture Industries

A report detailing the cost of production of China’s broiler and egg industries found a general trend away from small and medium producers to large, vertically integrated producers. The government is driving industry consolidation through various supports promoting industrialization and standardization. Notably, 90% of eggs are produced using caged systems. Although cage-free systems could increase production costs, this transition is hindered by the accuracy of cage-free labels, consumers’ unfamiliarity with the term “cage free”, and uncertainty about consumers’ willingness to pay for such eggs. A mapping of stakeholders found that businesses and retailers, producers, and certification agencies are key to engage given their importance in the egg supply chain and openness to cage‐free egg production.

China is the world’s largest fish producer. Like the chicken industry, vertical integration and consolidation is hastening the transition from earthen ponds to industrial aquaculture production. Production variables constraining this transition included feed, construction and machinery, waste treatment and facility maintenance, and a lack of specially trained workers. A project mapping China’s salmon farming industry found that Pacific salmon populations in Northeast China’s rivers are significantly reduced and transboundary species urgently need conservation. The exotic salmonids used for breeding and rearing are impacting fresh and saltwater ecosystems.

Finally, a report focusing on six Southeast Asian countries (Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam) found broiler chickens to be the most farmed land animal, with Indonesia accounting for more than 50% of chickens slaughtered in the region. Malaysia and Thailand are the top live animal exporters. Many companies have made public commitments for higher animal welfare, but there are challenges obtaining information on implementation and the inconsistent use of welfare labels.