Market Research on Opportunities of Plant -Based Meat With a Focus on Vegan Bakso in Vegan Communities of Indonesia

Abstract

Over the years, the vegetarian/vegan population has increased all over the world, especially in Asia where the Indonesia is one of the top five global vegetarian markets. In the year 2018, 25.4% of the Indonesian population considered themselves vegetarian in which they consume all types of vegan products that include meat substitute. Vegan bakso or meatball analogue is one of the examples of processed meat substitute. This study aims to obtain and analyze the market opportunities of meat substitutes in general with a focus towards vegan bakso. Questionnaire was delivered through an online platform to some vegan communities in Indonesia which are Indonesia Vegan Society Surabaya, Anand Ashram, Jakarta Vegan Guide, and Vegans Meetup. Most of the respondents are vegetarian females in the age range of 21 up until above 40, who lives in DKI Jakarta. The consumer behavior and attitude towards vegan friendly food, is that they mostly consume it every day. For the two common ingredients, tofu, and defatted soy flour, they consume it more than once a week. The most important factors affecting their purchase of vegan products is the hygienic condition. Furthermore, the important sensorial attributes vegan bakso is taste followed by aroma, texture, and color and their preferred ingredients on development of vegan bakso which are mushroom, tofu and legumes. Results from this study indicates that market opportunity of both plant-based meat and vegan bakso exists amongst vegan communities in Indonesia.