Hegg: CEO discusses plant-based innovation amid rising nutrition demands in Asia-Pacific
26 Jan 2024 | Hegg
Yau Png OW,CEO and co-founder of Hegg, highlights a plant-based egg innovation, citing a rise in hybrid products catering to increasing flexitarian preferences in Asia. This shift, fueled by environmental, cultural, and religious concerns, sees a growing demand for convenient plant-based options. Post-COVID-19, consumers in Asia are opting for nutritious alternatives in ready-to-make plant-based foods.
Hello, everyone.
I'm Sichung Wang at CNS Media journalist of food ingredient first.
I'm delighted to be joined today by Yao Pen Oh, who is the CEO and co-founder of Hay from How Foods.
Welcome.
Hi everyone.
So, Yao Hong is here to share with us today about the plant based food industry in Asia Pacific and its leading innovations.
So, Yao Peng, could you start by sharing some of the plant-based food developments in the regional market?
And what do you anticipate will be the major trends for this industry in 2024?
Right, yeah, thank you for the question, Mr.
Chung.
I will try my best to answer this question because I don't really speak for the entire Asia Pacific, but just from our limited experience, in leading the, a, a plant-based, alternative company.
So, yeah, so I, I think one of the few things that I want to say is that two major trends that we kind of identified.
That's growing, , through the past two years in Asia-Pacific region, post COVID-19, , the pandemic.
I think one of them will be the growth of hybrid products.
When hybrid means, plant-based versus, traditional meat-based, animal-based, products and protein.
So I think there's a growing segment of consumers who prefer to create hybrid products and So by mixing plant-based products with traditional products.
So we have seen our customers taking plant-based eggs, our plant-based eggs, mixing it with traditional chicken eggs to reduce their calorie, cholesterol.
And fat intake, to have a better product that's a little bit cleaner, more sustainable, and at the same time, they still can enjoy whatever they, they are traditionally used to.
This is one thing that we have noticed.
The second one will be an increased demand for ready to eat, RTE, plant-based food.
I, I think we have seen the growth of packaged food in the supermarket segment, in the food delivery segment.
These are driven mainly by ready to eat meals, which are driven by factors such as urbanization, increasing disposable income.
And, and a pent-up frustration for need of consumption, , post-pandemic.
So I, I think that, plant-based, the, the consumer trend for plant-based food, we have seen that growth in RTE, where people want quick, convenient, solutions, and, at the same time, they, they want to be sustainable, they want to eat healthy, they want to eat clean.
So these are the things that we are seeing that direction moving in the consumer trend.
Oh, that's very interesting.
Consider the unique culinary culture in Asia.
What challenges does Hake face in integrating plant-based egg in the local cuisines and how do you overcome consumer skepticism?
Right, I think that's a wonderful question.
I, I think we are, we are Asians, right, and based in Asia Pacific.
I, I, at the same like in the same breath, I cannot speak for 62 and more Asia-Pacific countries, and, but in Singapore, where we are based, we are cosmopolitan and we are multicultural.
So we, we understand many different types of cuisine.
If you have been to.
Singapore, you will know that Singapore is a food haven.
We have more almost any type of food cuisine culture here in Singapore.
So in Asia Pacific, specifically, I think we are home to many different types of cuisines and they are very markedly different like Chinese food and Thai food, Vietnamese food, Indonesian food, they're all very different cuisines in their own right, right.
So, Eggs also play in our case, eggs play a very big part of such cuisine.
So, we won't profess to have, at this moment, there's no player in the market that can profess to, to have a plant-based product that can have a one size fits all for all kinds of cuisine.
So like for us, how do we overcome that is that we go by a more customizable method, and we, we basically specific Specifically, we help to tailor made to a certain cuisine.
For example, just last year, we, we launched the kaya spread, which is a coconut jam sweet condiment that is very traditionally used in Singapore and Malaysia.
So we have managed to, to make a product that is virtually indistinguishable between your traditional chicken eggs and, and plant-based eggs.
So if for those who are, who are not familiar with kaya spread, kaya is a predominantly coconut-based egg jam.
So, eggs are a huge component inside, this condiment, this kaya spread.
So we have successfully formulated a product that is that you can't tell the difference in a blind test.
So, I can't tell you right now through, through, through the interview, but basically you can, if you're in Singapore, feel free to come over to to try the product.
It's, it's virtually in unnoticeable, you cannot tell the difference.
Yeah, so, based on such methodology, we work with individual clients, partners, to create a product that is specific to that particular cuisine to tell the world that, hey, plant-based food may not be as scary as what you think, it's not as untasty as what you think.
This is an alternative that is That's having a run on your money, right?
Basically you can have that particular food that is sustainable and clean at the same time be familiar with the traditional taste.
So that's how we tackle this problem.
That sounds so interesting.
Could you share with us more of the technology innovation that Haig is currently working on?
I can't share in details because there are certain intellectual property that's involved, but definitely what we are working on right now are more pre-mixes, and ready to eat.
Products that can incorporate, plant-based eggs into such ingredients.
It will also help alleviate our partners, our B2B partners, in terms of their manufacturing processes, so they eliminate the need of cracking eggs, egg wastages, shell wastages, and, and we, we create a nutritious yet clean and sustainable profile for, for, for our customers to have this product.
OK.
So, it's very nice to hear about all of that and I know that Asia has a long history in eating plant-based food.
However, it has been noted that some egg substitutes have limitations in replicating the nutritional profile of actual eggs.
So, what breakthroughs has Haig achieved in this area?
I'm I think I'm proud to, to say that we're offering a product with a high-quality protein content that is very closely matchable to those of traditional chicken eggs.
I think the important thing here is that we are providing an alternative.
It's rather unrealistic to say that we can totally replace 100% traditional chicken eggs, because I think chicken eggs is An integral part of our society, our cuisine, and, and a taste of home.
So what we're trying to offer here is a key proposition that we want to create a, a, a inclusive, , product that That helps people that cannot take chicken eggs due to health, dietary preferences or, or basically you have religious reasons that you cannot enjoy chicken eggs or you just want a sustainable clean diet, a healthier diet by by consuming plant-based eggs that are cleaner and healthier for your gut.
So I think , what we have done here at HC is to mimic, the macro nutrition, to be as similar to a traditional chicken egg.
OK.
So, before we finish, I'd like to let you share about your vision on the plant-based food in the future.
That's a broad one, but I'll, I'll try my best.
I, I think, , in the future as technology continues to evolve, and, consumers are getting more work and, and the younger generation, , are more interested in sustainability and in, in clean health foods and functional foods.
I think I envision plant-based.
Eggs and plant-based food, that can be as technology increases, it will be as close to the real thing as possible.
The taste, the authentic taste, the color, the texture of, of, of the whole thing, eggs, for example, can be as close to the real thing in the future.
And I believe that is, not impossible, and that will be, that will be very ambitious, but it is going to be a reality at some point in time.
I think, we take a lot of cues, for, for us at Hagg, we take a lot of cues from the success of the oat milk and the milk alternative industry where they have achieved considerable success so far in the past few years, where, I think the adoption rate for plant-based milk, is, is unprecedented in today's world.
And yet you do not see the cow's milk, goat milk, animal milk industry going out of business, right?
They still exist, coexist together, but I think the oat milk and milk alternative industry has done an excellent job.
In, in providing a, a an excellent alternative to people who want a, a cleaner, healthier, sustainable alternative.
So, we, I, I really hope that the egg-bay, plant-based egg industry, will adopt the same trajectory, and I am very sure it will, it will be in the future.
Yes, that's also what we are hoping for.
So, thank you so much for joining us today, Yaopeng, with your valuable insights and thank you to our viewers for watching.
Stay tuned.
No, it's mine.
Thank you so much.
