Market Trends
Chicken flavored plant-based patties are as popular as the “fake beef” ones. As a fan of faux chicken products, myself, I have been following the plant-based poultry industry closely for the past ten years. With KFC’s launch of the “Imposter” burger, which utilizes a plant-based patty made by Quorn and Burger King’s “Unbelievable Chicken King” burger in Sweden, it seems that the race for the best faux chicken burger has just started.
The era of chicken consumption
Poultry farming is on the rise. The US is the world’s biggest meat producer accounting for 18% of global output. And this number is expected to climb. According to poultryworld.net, “This trend is set to increase further into the 2020s as new processing plants stretching from Texas to Tennessee come to a stream.” What does fuel this demand for chicken meat? Chicken meat consumption is on the rise due to its perceived benefits over red meat. Chicken is often seen as a healthier option and a good source of lean protein. With more health-conscious eating habits among meat-eaters, this trend has been on the rise for the past two decades.
Ecological, health and ethical factors
Companies like Beyond Meat and Impossible foods claim that plant-based meat production is the best way for us humans to reduce the harmful carbon footprint as CNBC.com reports, “It makes sense to develop alternatives to beef because we have to change our eating habits to more plant-based diets if we want to limit global warming to under 2 degrees Celsius. Impossible and Beyond tap into this market,” said Marco Springmann, a senior environmental researcher at the University of Oxford.”
Although, poultry farming does not contribute to greenhouse gas emissions as much as beef production does, according to National Geographic, we are facing another ecological problem with a global impact when it comes to rapid chicken farming expansion.”Because factory chicken farming concentrates enormous numbers of chickens in small areas, feces and manure production, sick and dead animals, microbial pathogens and feed additives take a toll on the environment.” sciencing.com reports. Chicken skeletons became an unwanted byproduct of the massive consumption of poultry meat. In fact, this problem is so massive that it could define the era that we currently live in according to Smithsonian Magazine
Furthermore, health issues like bird flu, hormones in chicken food and ethical concerns like animal abuse and neglect in poultry farms have gained attention in recent years.
Chicken or turkey flavored plant-based patties have a promising future not only among flexitarians and vegans but all of us who want to continue ingesting lean protein and contribute to a cleaner environment and animal welfare. As gfi.org puts it, “Plant-based burgers get most of the attention today but, plant-based chicken is on track to be the next breakout category.”
Plant-based chicken and turkey patties
I used to buy Gardein Crispy Chick’n sliders and Boca chicken patties regularly. I now consider them pioneers in the meatless chicken patties market, they always had great reviews and you really can’t go wrong with them. Now that the selection is expanding at an amazing rate, I can’t wait to sample all of the choices. While we are waiting on “Beyond Meat” and “Impossible Foods” to roll out those meatless chicken-flavored patties, there are plenty of plant-based startups, domestic and foreign ones that produce great tasting faux chicken meat patties. Companies like, Before the Butcher, Morning Star Farms, Quorn, Yvesveggie to name a few. If you are a DIY at-home cook, you can experiment with the pseudo chicken patties just like Chef Jana in the video below.