30 Under 30 Asia: These Startups Are Bringing Alternative Meat To The Region

30 Under 30 Asia: These Startups Are Bringing Alternative Meat To The Region

Hong Chichi, founder of Hey Maet. Take, for example, China's Hong Chichi. Pork has long been a staple of the Chinese diet, but to Hong it's high time for a change. Less than a year after launching in Shanghai, Hong's plant-based meat startup Hey Maet has already found a niche among young, health-conscious urban consumers with products like dumplings and steamed buns that use proteins from rice and soybeans. Hong, 26, won't disclose sales figures but predicts 500% revenue growth this year. "China could be faster than the West to accept plant-based meat," she says. "I hope to promote such products to mass-market consumers in the next three years." "China could be faster than the West to accept plant-based meat." Hey Maet isn't Hong's first venture. After graduating with a bachelor's degree in political science from Canada's Simon Fraser University, Hong got a job as an investor in the Silicon Valley office of Hong Kong-based venture capital firm Ausvic Capital. She spent the next two years investing in startups developing everything from artificial intelligence to consumer goods. But the urge to start her own business gradually took over. A vegetarian for ten years, Hong in 2019 set her sights on