The novel plant-based protein boom over the past few years has mostly been centred on ingredients such as soybeans, oats, wheat and nuts including in the alternative dairy sector, but now that the dust has settled, in China several firms believe that a more traditional approach is necessary to really make a mark.
One of these companies is Hexian (literally translated as Lotus Fairy), which specialises in lotus-based food products as per its name.
“Lotus has long been acknowledged in China as a healthy food ingredient, and has a very strong cultural base here with deep entrenchment in the hearts of local consumers,” Hexian Group Chairman and Founder Changfa Zhang told the floor in a plant-based focused discussion during the Food and Beverage Innovation Forum (FBIF) 2024.
“It is well-accepted and well-loved with strong roots in tradition, and all we have to do is translate this traditional ingredient into novel formats.
“In today’s very competitive market though, it is no longer enough to just make things healthy and tasty but we need to consider many aspects to appeal to consumers, especially providing them with convenience.”
“So where lotus has traditionally been most popular in dishes like soups, we are now processing these into strips, chunks and more as snacks – some popular products are lotus stuffed with glutinous rice, fried lotus strips, lotus meatballs and more.
“This does not mean that health and nutrition can be overlooked, but the important thing is to emphasise this in a more modern way, so we also developed various functional products with longstanding nutritional benefits including soups but in a ready-to-cook format that can meet the needs of modern at-home cooking.”
This was seconded by beverage firm Keyang which specialises in red and green beans, another type of ingredient with longstanding roots in Chinese cuisine.
“Red beans and green beans have very deep and traditional consumption history in China, but generally need to be processed, cleaned and boiled at home before consumption which can be a time-consuming affair,” Keyang Founder Zhonghe Wang said.
“Keyang was the first company to launch beverages using these ingredients in a ready-to-drink format in China, namely with our bottled RTD red bean and barley product, a completely new format for this category.
“We have also found it crucial to maintain usage of the most traditional and natural processing methods for our beans, as this is the only way to maintain the minerals and benefits of the beans whilst removing the excess carbs and other impurities.
“As such we can confidently say that innovating with traditional ingredients and modern processing can bring about some of the best innovation and products in this market.”
Scientific backing
Where many traditional ingredients often have benefits conveyed through the generations by word of mouth or just traditional texts, there are many today which have also had their benefits proven via scientific experimentation.
According to Wang, green and red beans have had their benefits proven as the company partnered with a local university to study these.
“Some of the major health benefits we found were for the spleen, the stomach and the urinary tract,” he said.