Pulmuone 'Daeteryuk' Enters Over 200 US 'Waba Grill' Stores... Full-Scale Expansion of Alternative Meat Business

Three Pulmuone plant-based steak menu items sold by Waba Grill in the United States.

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] Pulmuone has entered the U.S. restaurant chain 'Waba Grill' with its self-developed plant-based meat and has officially launched its plant-based meat business.

Pulmuone announced on the 8th that it plans to expand sales of plant-based meat in the U.S. by placing plant-based meat made from soy protein in all 200 Waba Grill stores through its U.S. subsidiary Pulmuone USA.

The plant-based meat that Pulmuone introduced in the U.S. is a product developed by Pulmuone Technology Institute in Korea, based on plant-based textured protein extracted from soybeans, designed to replicate the taste and texture similar to meat.

This plant-based meat is optimized for steak, unlike U.S. companies such as Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods, which focus on patties and sausages. It is differentiated by a charcoal barbecue flavor developed to suit local tastes and competitiveness enhanced by a minimal additive principle.

Waba Grill uses the plant-based meat supplied by Pulmuone as raw material to develop and sell three types of steak menus to customers. These menus, called ‘Plantspired Steak,’ consist of steak rice bowl, steak vegetable rice bowl, and steak set meal.

‘Plantspired’ is a plant-based food specialty brand launched by Pulmuone USA earlier this year, meaning 'foods inspired by plants.'

Waba Grill is a well-being food franchise operating about 200 stores mainly in California, western U.S. It sells various menus using steak, salmon, and a variety of salads, generating annual sales of $150 million.

Jung Hamyeong, DM of Pulmuone USA, said, “We are very honored to introduce the plant-based meat developed by Pulmuone to a well-being food restaurant chain favored by U.S. consumers,” adding, “Based on differentiated product competitiveness tailored to local tastes and the minimal additive principle, we plan to further expand the plant-based meat business in the U.S. market.”

In addition, Pulmuone USA has partnered with 'University of Massachusetts Dining,' the largest school meal service in the U.S., supplying various ‘Plantspired’ products including plant-based meat to the University of Massachusetts Amherst campus. It is also in partnership talks with other prestigious local universities such as the University of Michigan, Virginia Tech, and Yale University to provide sustainable foods and develop menus for students' healthy diets.

According to U.S. market research firm SPINS, the U.S. plant-based meat market size was $1.4 billion in 2020, a 45% increase compared to 2019. About 6% of the U.S. population is known to be vegetarian.

Meanwhile, Pulmuone is also accelerating the expansion of the domestic plant-based meat market. Pulmuone supplies plant-based meat to various domestic distribution channels such as fast-food chains and coffee franchises. Next month, Pulmuone will launch plant-based direct-grilled bulgogi made from plant-based ingredients. It also plans to lead the plant-based meat market by newly launching a domestic specialized brand for plant-based foods and continuously releasing new products.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.