The Chinese market for plant-based products has been growing rapidly in the last few years. Sales numbers for alternative meat products are booming, and soymilk and oat milk are more popular than ever. One of the companies driving the plant-based sector in Asia is Vitasoy. It was founded in 1940 in Hong Kong and offers plant-based milk options like almond, rice, oat and soy, teas, and different kinds of tofus.
The company’s
revenue has skyrocketed to almost double in the last decade, and 80% of it is
due to the demand in China. The rest is due to the company’s operations in
Singapore, the Philippines, and Australia and exports to over 40 countries.
Talking about
the growth, the Group CEO of Vitasoy, Roberto Guidetti, said, “From the
original beginning in China’s southern area, we have been able to expand to
Central and Eastern China, and then nationally via tailoring our portfolio and
route-to-market model in the favorable context of progressive premiumization of
the category.”
The company
focuses on ensuring that the products are sourced in a sustainable, ecological,
fair labor practice way. Explaining it, Guidetti said, “This is a key vector in
our ESG activities and intended progress. We have implemented a suppliers’
classification, validation process, and sustainable farming practices
guidelines that engage suppliers on expected requirements. These go beyond raw
materials’ quality to include their own sustainability, fair labor practices,
and governance. Beyond our own determination, these standards and processes are
also very critical for some of our big customers, who audit these
specifications for their own ESG guidelines.”
Expanding on how
Vitasoy’s ESG works and how the company meets the ESG goals, Guidetti said, “The
original founding purpose of the Vitasoy company in 1940 was to provide tasty,
sustainable plant-based nutrition. Therefore, as the ESG momentum started to
gradually build internationally, we determined that ESG for Vitasoy was core
corporate purpose work, as opposed to just adequate compliance to Hong Kong
Stock Exchange guidelines. After updating our materiality assessment, we
started our own ESG framework with two core pillars: one is “Making the right
products”; the other one is “Making products the right way’.”
He added, “Making
the right products’ means that 1) we are making most of our portfolio
plant-based (now 90 percent of our SKU are plant-based, comprising soy, oat,
almond, rice milks, and teas), and 2) we are adding more nutrition whilst
cutting fat and sugar into our formulae. Making products the right way” has
focused on energy reduction — how many liters of water, how many kilowatts of
electricity, how much fuel we are consuming per liter of manufactured product.
We set an initial goal to reduce them by 20 percent for the next five years.
This pillar has now been extended beyond such parameters to also include other
social factors.”
Three
Important Areas
Highlighting the
three important areas to work on, Guidetti said, “Specifically, we realized
there are three important areas to work on. First is instituting our best
practices into specific published policies, with mechanisms to track their
implementation.”
He added, “Second
is climate readiness, which means going beyond contributing to sustainability
via our plant-based portfolio, to run a climate risk assessment and specific
quantification of emissions that in turn will enable us to set carbon
neutrality goals in line with international requirements. We have already
quantified our full scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions. We are aligning our practices
with the guidelines set by the Task Force on Climate-related Financials Disclosures
(TCFD) as much as possible. We look at not only the Hong Kong Stock Exchange’s
requirements but also at more advanced countries like those in Europe to stay
ahead of the curve in this area.”
He concluded, “Last,
but not least is the packaging. Most of our products are sold in carton packaging.
This is helpful in terms of the upstream supply chain as it is Forest
Stewardship Council (FSC) certified; however, there are some gaps to be
addressed on the downstream as not every market has the full infrastructure for
carton recycling and circularity. Therefore, in Hong Kong, we are piloting
initiatives in this area involving collection and recycling. In Hong Kong, we
are also piloting the conversion of plastic packaging (a smaller part of our
portfolio) into recycled PET.”
Connecting
with Modern Consumers
Vitasoy recently
evolved its branding by reviving its plant-based heritage to resonate with
modern consumers’ desire for a healthier and nutritious lifestyle with the
campaign platform “Planting Goodness Every Day” by Dentsu international Hong
Kong. It represented Vitasoy’s wide portfolio of products, including Classic,
Calci-Plus, and VitaOat.
Future
Outlook
The demand for
plant-based products is rising and will continue to rise as there has been a considerable
increase in the number of lactose
intolerant population. In the future, the growing trend of consuming
products with no or less artificial contents will be expected to fuel market
sales for companies like Vitasoy.
Sources:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/christophermarquis/2022/06/09/how-vitasoy-is-driving-the-plant-based-sector-in-asia/?sh=469368bd3476
https://campaignbriefasia.com/2022/05/30/vitasoy-undergoes-brand-refresh-by-dentsu-hong-kong-reinterpreting-its-plant-based-heritage/
https://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/plant-based-milk-market-in-depth-insights-revenue-details-regional-analysis-by-2029