This plant-based meat is made for Filipinos by Filipinos.
An excerpt from esquiremag.ph
By SASHA LIM UY |
Following suit is WTH Foods (that’s Worth the Health Foods), a Filipino-based company that has also come to the conclusion that less meat is better for the world. Stephen Co, also the brains behind craft beer brand Nipa Brew, is convinced that plant- and cell-based food innovations are key toward a future that’s more food-secure and environmentally responsible: “There’s unquestionable data that the world’s massive appetite for animal meat is detrimental to the environment. Being one of the most populous countries in the world, the Philippines has one of the highest meat consumption in Southeast Asia.”
He tells Esquire that plant-based meat substitutes have existed for centuries, but many Filipinos find them uninteresting. “At WTH, we aim to create plant-based meat that is more approachable and accessible to Filipinos, in terms of taste, availability, and price,” Co says.
WTH’s first product is giniling or ground meat made of mung bean flour, texturized vegetable proteins, tapioca starch, coconut oil, tomato paste, and spices. “It’s a cooked food product, so it’s ready-to-eat and easy to use with familiar Filipino dishes,” he adds. The next step, according to him, is to create a product that’s purely local in terms of ingredients.
Co reiterates that it doesn’t intend to convert carnivores to vegetarianism or veganism. What WTH does is introduce plant-based meat substitutes that are familiar, delicious, and nutritious.