chennai in the mood to unmutton whether consumer or entrepreneur you wouldnt be the only one you are in fact part of a burgeoning band of takers for plantbased protein a number projected to grow globally to 309 billion by 2026 with a compound annual growth rate of 15 according to market analyst statistain india the altmeat trade is about 30 million largely driven by packaged food says a 2021 study by retail broking company nirmal bang which also predicts the market size will touch 500 million by 2025 olympic gold medallist neeraj chopra is already a brand ambassador for a company that makes vegetarian meat several bollywooders have hopped on to the green protein train even itc recently loaded up on meat analoguesat ground level dhaval chandarana owner of the twomonthold chennaibased caf 28 advertised as the first vegan food court in the country says around 40 of his customers head straight to the mockmeat shawarma and pizza counters i turned vegan a while ago so i know how meat tastes and these mock meats made from jackfruit and soy have a similar texture thats the reason former meateaters like me are drawn to it says chandaranaour surveys as well as those from the good food institute indicate that 50 urban indians want to switch over to plantbased meats says unnikrishnan p g ceo and founder of kochibased the green meat our target group are the flexitarians the vegetarian who enjoys animal products a lot of them want to cut down for health reasons but cant get themselves to unless they have good enough substitutes says unnikrishnanmost mock meats use soya but now newer varieties are coming that make use of pulse proteins such as green peas chickpea and horse gram these give both texture and taste but with zero cholesterol he addsthe nocholesterol factor seems to be among the main reasons for the increasing popularity of mock meats jackfruit for instance offers up 2g protein per 100g serving of 93 calories and soyabean gives 45g protein at 33 calories a 100g of chicken though has 30 grams of protein but offers it up in 165 calories and with 150mg of cholesterolfor the last two years whole food plantbased nutritionist madhura vayal has been running a cloud kitchen offering plantbased meals of late her mock meat dishes have been gathering steam many have transitioned to a plantbased diet but want the flavours of typical meat dishes so we started making butter chicken and biriyani with altmeat says the mumbaibased nutritionistplantbased meats dont contain cholesterol but in the end it is a processed product so i wouldnt call them 100 healthy most mock meats are made of processed soya or wheatbased gluten seitan i prefer natural vegetable substitutes like yam or aubergine for fish and jackfruit for mutton as these are healthier though 70 of indians are nonvegetarian more than 60 eat meat only once or twice a week or month says vegolution india founderceo siddharth ramasubramanian who recently launched