Herbal meat substitutes are the most popular topics in the Gulfood program

Herbal meat substitutes were the hottest ticket in town on the opening day of Gulfood show in the United Arab Emirates yesterday.

Companies from around the world have come to the Dubai World Trade Center to showcase their latest alternatives to meat products.

Visitors to the show were able to discover similar food equivalents to beef, chicken, duck and pork, all made from plant material.

The sellers argued that the new products offered customers a much healthier and sustainable alternative to meat.

"It's a product that has the same taste and appearance as meat, but does not contain real meat," said Simeon Van Der Molen, Managing Director of Moving Mountains.

"Many people are looking to reduce the amount of meat they eat. This can be for their own health or for the environment. "

Herbal products as an alternative to meat have become more popular in recent years.

The idea was once thought of as something that only concerned vegan and vegan markets, but it's starting to change.

Recent technological advances have bridged the gap between how an ordinary beef burger, for example, could taste when compared to its plant-based counterpart.

"The problem was that restaurants only offered meat or fish salads on the menu," Van Der Molen said. "The chefs did not want their names to be badociated with the veggie burgers that were on the market."

The Good Food Institute, a US nonprofit organization that promotes herbal meat, said the sector accounted for $ 3.7 billion in US sales (13.58 billion dirhams). ;last year.

They also predicted that the figure would increase worldwide as more meat consumers turn to plant-based alternatives.

Mr Van Der Molen said that a team of scientists, chefs and British farmers had spent more than three years perfecting the recipe for his herbal meat burger. The result, which they called Moving Mountain Burger, is composed of oyster mushrooms, wheat, soy, beetroot, coconut oil, vitamin B12 and pea protein.

Moving Mountain was not the only company to offer a hamburger that reproduced the taste and appearance of a hamburger without containing meat.

"More and more people are becoming aware of the importance of healthy eating," said Jacek Plewa, managing director of Global Food Industries, an Emirates-based foods manufacturer.

"Our plant-based hamburgers reaffirm our commitment to providing nutritious food and helping to build prosperous, healthy and happier communities in the UAE."

Meanwhile, Tommy Dane and Niamh Dixon of Innov Food Solutions in Ireland treated visitors with shredded duck plant alternatives.

"The reaction in Ireland has been huge and we think it has the same appetite in the UAE," Dixon told The National newspaper.

She added that the company's herbal swine alternative has particular potential for customers in the region.

There were also herbal fish-based alternatives exhibited at the salon.

"Seago is a ready-to-eat snack that is a vegetable alternative to seafood," said a spokeswoman for Enterprise Singapore, a member of the city's Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

"Seafood substitutes overcome the current challenges of overfishing and, at a more micro level, allow people allergic to shellfish to savor seafood. It's an excellent source of protein. "