Sectors & markets
Blended Meat: The hybrid solution cracking the price-taste barrier in Southeast Asia
PHOTO: HARVEST B, Source: thestraitstimes.com
Market Info | Agrotech | Meat & Cold Cuts
Date: 1 July 2025
Region: ASEAN-West
Country: Singapore
Sector: Agrotech
Sub-sector: Meat & Cold Cuts
Section: Players & Competition
Theme: Blended meat, a potential solution to food security in SE Asia
In Singapore and Southeast Asia, while plant-based meat substitutes attract interest, they remain hampered by a 35% price premium and a sometimes disappointing taste perception. Consequently, consumers continue to prioritize conventional meat, despite its high resource consumption.
To address this challenge, a new generation of "blended" (or hybrid) products is emerging, combining animal and plant proteins—such as soy, pea, or fungi—to reduce meat content without compromising taste or texture. This model promises major benefits: reduced emissions, lower land use, and more resilient supply chains.
Several players are positioning themselves in this space: Harvest B in Australia with hybrid beef and lamb, BaseFood in Malaysia supplying plant proteins to manufacturers, and Quorn, which is now integrating pork into certain products destined for the UK's NHS.
Regional reception is highly favorable: 93% of respondents in ASEAN express willingness to try these products, including those skeptical of "100% plant-based" options. Crucially, some references are already achieving price parity with conventional meat, significantly bolstering their appeal.
Ultimately, blended meat could trigger a virtuous cycle of increased volumes, lower costs, and broader adoption of alternative proteins. Cultivated meat startups, such as Meatable and its Singaporean partner TruMeat, view this model as a strategic stepping stone toward faster market integration. Hybrid meat is thus establishing itself as a key stage in reconciling growing protein demand with regional sustainability and food security.
Source: Ryan Huling, 23/06/2025, The Straits Times
