THE CHALLENGE

PFI Foods is a food processing manufacturer offering comprehensive catering solutions with a supply of both Chinese and Western meal products, spanning bakery items to sauces. Its subsidiary, Plant Plus, specializes in plant-based options such as dumplings, steamed stuffed buns, spaghetti bolognese, beef mince, pork mince, chicken nuggets, and sausages, uniquely crafted to cater to the Chinese diet.

OUR WORK

Driven by rising demand among Chinese consumers for healthy, tasty, and sustainable meat alternatives, PFI developed a plant-based beef patty specifically aligned with local taste preferences.

Unlike Impossible Burger, which relies on soy leghemoglobin to create a blood-like appearance and iron-rich liquid, we deliberately avoided trying to emulate that process. Chinese consumers showed a clear preference against this blood-like effect in plant-based meat.

The team traveled to Shanghai to deeply understand the local market. Through direct immersion in the culinary landscape, they gained critical insights into preferred flavor profiles and the importance of using natural ingredients in the burger formulation.

THE RESULT

After numerous iterations, Jack identified a proprietary processing step involving a key emulsion technique to preserve juiciness and give the plant-based patty a satisfying bounce, akin to a beef burger. Overcoming challenges in translating US industrial ingredients and sourcing comparable ones in China, the burger successfully launched under the Plant Plus brand, offering a delicious alternative.