Century Pacific Food, Inc. (PSE: CNPF), one of the Philippines’ leading food companies, moves further into the meat-free market rolling out its ‘unMEAT’ brand of plant-based products to retail markets in the Philippines and abroad.
The launch of the new plant-based range is in response to the expanding consumer preference for a healthier diet, partly triggered by the pandemic when people aimed to eat healthy to boost their immune system.
The unMEAT brand was first introduced in the Philippines through Shakey’s Pizza’s newest offering, the Good Burger. Since then, it has earned positive reviews for its meat-like look, flavor, and texture. Following its successful initial rollout, CNPF is now making unMEAT available directly to consumers.
“One of the biggest concerns about plant-based foods is that they are not delicious or as pleasing to the palate as real meat,” notes Nikki Dizon, a Senior Executive at CNPF. “But our Nutrition Science team took that as a challenge, and completely delivered by coming up with a meat alternative that unbelievably and undeniably looks, feels, and tastes like meat. Moreover, they made unMEAT using simple ingredients and extracted the nutrients from real food rather than synthetic compounds so
it’s healthier and more affordable.”
The brand is being launched in the Philippines and in international markets such as the USA, Singapore, China and the Middle East giving consumers in many parts of the world access to tasty, healthy, and affordable 100% plant-based meat alternative. CNPF also aims to take advantage of the rapidly expanding market by riding on its network of customers in 80 countries in both the branded and OEM space.
With the plant-based meat industry on the rise, CNPF, which dominates the Philippine tuna market with its hugely successful Century Tuna line popular among health and fitness enthusiasts, aims to meet this growing consumer demand while fulfilling its company mission to provide affordable nutrition.
“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 Dizon.
The unMEAT product line consists of meat-free burger patties, Hungarian sausages, nuggets, and minced meat, more commonly known locally as ‘giniling’. All products are great sources of fiber and protein, and are free of cholesterol, transfat, egg, and dairy. Also, amid the rise in commodity prices, unMEAT products are affordably priced from Php 120 to Php 135 (US$ 2.5/pack), which is a small difference from the current cost of real meat.
Century Pacific Food, Inc. (PSE: CNPF), one of the Philippines’ leading food companies, has made its biggest move yet into the meat-free market launching its ‘unMeat’ brand - the first vegan meat alternative brand in the Philippines.
CNPF Executive Chairman Christopher Po said, “We believe ‘unMeat’ is a valuable addition to our brand and product portfolio as more and more Filipinos embark on healthier lifestyles. At the same time, this nitiative supports both our ambition to become a healthier food company and to do business in a more sustainable and responsible way.”
‘unMeat’, currently sold to institutional customers only, serves as a healthy meat alternative made with non-GMO plant-based ingredients, with zero cholesterol and trans-fat, while remaining a good source of protein and fiber.
At the same time, it maintains the taste of real meat - becoming a viable food option, not only for vegans and vegetarians, but for meat lovers as well.
Currently, it serves as the patty of sister company Shakey’s Pizza Asia Ventures’ (PSE: PIZZA) “Goood Burger” available in all Shakey’s outlets across the Philippines.
Po added, “We are working towards more plant-based options, making meat alternatives accessible to a wider segment of the Filipino population. The key is to create a product that is affordable, healthy, yet tasty – with the flavor profile of real meat. We believe ‘unMeat’ meets all these criteria and we look forward to growing this brand moving forward.”
Apart from being good for the health, the supply chain for plant-based products requires lower consumption of various natural resources such as water, land, and energy, and generates less greenhouse gas emissions compared to the production process for meat.
This product launch comes on the heels of CNPF finalizing its sustainability strategy, which includes priorities such as addressing nutritional gaps in the Philippines, mitigating various environmental impacts, and diversifying and strengthening its workforce.
Recently, the Company signed an agreement with Plastic Credit Exchange (PCEx) for the certification of its plastic neutrality making it the first food company in the Philippines to pursue such third party verification for a plastic offsetting initiative.
CNPF celebrated its first year of being 100% “plastic neutral” earlier this year, following a push in 2019 to be plastic neutral by 2020. This means it is able to recover an amount of plastic equivalent to what it uses.
It has also announced a joint initiative with Friends of Hope, a non-profit organization with expertise in coconut-based farming systems, to help expand long-term coconut supply in South Central Mindanao, providing additional income to some 16,000 families in the area and sequestering enough greenhouse gases to make its coconut subsidiary carbon-neutral by 2028.
