| Dongwon F&B's plant-based canned ham-style product, My Plant Original / Courtesy of Dongwon F&B |
By Kim Jae-heun
Dongwon F&B launched a vegetable canned ham-style product, My Plant Original, to become a total protein provider while moving towards the popularization of plant-based meat alternatives, the company said Wednesday.
My Plant Original is the third new product of Dongwon's meat alternative brand My Plant, following its plant-based dumpling and tuna flavored products introduced in March.
My Plant Original is made of 100 percent vegetable ingredients, which contain no cholesterol and has the lowest calorie count among its competitors in the domestic market. Comparing Dongwon's canned ham product to Richam, it is more than 40 percent lower in calories ― making it suitable for those who follow healthy eating trends.
"We are promoting various forms of collaboration with different companies based on our competitiveness in mass production infrastructure and independent technology for canned ham products. We will lead the popularization of meat alternatives by targeting overseas markets with our export infrastructure," a Dongwon F&B official said.
The meat replacement product realized the authentic taste of canned ham by using the raw material "Desalt," which Dongwon developed with its independent technology in 2018, to reduce sodium content while maintaining the savory taste desired by consumers.
It also found the optimal raw material mixing ratio through a number of experiments, which significantly reduced the small of soybeans commonly found in vegetable products.
Unlike other meat alternative products that are required to be refrigerator stored, My Plant Original can be kept at room temperature to increase consumer convenience.
Dongwon F&B's target market for the product is flexible vegetarians, who are colloquially referred to as "flexitarians." In order for such meat alternative products to find a footing in the market, it is important that they find acceptance among flexitarians.
Meanwhile, the domestic plant-based meat alternative product market is expected to grow to 29.5 billion won ($22.3 million) in 2025 and about $8.8 billion for the global market in 2027.