AS Malaysians face temporary disruptions in the supply of chickens, they can turn to meat substitutes which are a great option to mitigate the shortfall.
HeveaBoard Bhd, through its wholly-owned subsidiary HeveaGro Sdn Bhd, has solidified its position as Malaysia’s plant-based protein producer with the country’s first Eryngii mushroom.
Seeing the opening left by chicken shortages, HeveaGro looks to seize the opportunity by increasing their marketing efforts of its home-grown Eryngii mushrooms.
The meaty texture of Eryngii Mushrooms – also known as King Oyster Mushrooms – makes it an ideal meat substitute. Stems of the Eryngii mushrooms have a very pleasant texture that is very similar to that of meat when fried.
While raw Eryngii mushroom have mild taste, cooking them, however, releases a nutty, earthy, woody and intensely umami flavour – making it the perfect addition to savoury dishes.
“Although geographically we are far removed from the Russia-Ukraine War, the effects of the war are spilling over to our part of the world with nations worldwide struggling with rising food costs,” justified HeveaBoard’s managing director Yoong Hau Chun.
“India has restricted its wheat export due to heatwaves, and Indonesia had a blanket ban on exports of crude palm oil and its refined products. Malaysia has also introduced a ban on chicken exports starting June 1 to control chicken prices domestically.
“We feel obliged to present an alternative to the chicken in the market with our Eryngii Mushrooms,” added Yoong.
Not just packed full of flavour, Eryngii mushrooms also contain an impressive nutrition profile to boot. The mushrooms have anti-viral effects on influenza and herpes viruses, among others, and are full of vitamins and minerals, including magnesium, calcium, iron, selenium and niacin.
They are also a great source of Vitamins B, protein, and contains a compound unique to the species called Lovastatin, which helps to manage cholesterol.
According to Euromonitor International Ltd, a London-based market research company, alternative proteins could account for 11% of the global protein market by 2035.
Meanwhile, meat substitutes market forecast (2021-2026) by Industry ARC reported that the meat substitutes market size is projected to reach US$2.65 bil by 2026, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.1% over 2021-2026.
With the demand for meat substitutes rising considerably, HeveaGro looks to leverage this trend to grow the company further.
At 4.12pm, HeveaBoard was unchanged at 43.5 sen with 57,600 shares traded, thus valuing the company at RM247 mil. – July 18, 2022
