Meatballs launched

According to Kong Jie, who owns Tomacado, a restaurant chain in Beijing, the pandemic has reminded people of the importance of sustainable development.

With this in mind, on March 12, her team decided to introduce plant-based meatballs to the menu to mark Arbor Day, urging diners to eat less meat to help reduce carbon emissions. The meatballs are produced in collaboration with Starfield.

"We launched the meatballs in three flavors and paired them with strawberry and pineapple to represent the spring, with the aim of bringing more joy and hope to our customers," Kong said.

She added that the meatballs have been relatively popular, with nearly half the customers ordering them on launch day.

"Our customers are mostly female office workers, who are willing to embrace sustainable development, low-carbon environmental protection and modern technology. They have taken to the new product quite well," she said.

Kong thinks the catering industry is moving in a more healthy, sustainable direction.

"Plant-based meat in China has a new role on the dining table. It still needs perfecting in many respects, including safety, stabilization and flavors. As restaurateurs, we should observe and think from the customers' viewpoint and try to push technical improvements for diners," she said.