Century Pacific Food Inc., one of the leading food and beverage companies in the Philippines, is expanding its range of plant-based products under its pioneering vegan brand, unMEAT.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, CNPF said it has entered the dairy-free category with a cheese alternative called “unCHEESE” which is made with starches blended with natural flavors and plant-derived oils to closely match dairy cheese.

“Dairy alternatives is one of the fastest-growing segments in plant-based globally. While dairy-free cheese is relatively nascent, it is a critical segment that can unlock usage and trial for the entire category because of its wide range of applications,” said CNPF Vice President and General Manager of Refrigerated Food, Nikki Dizon.

Dizon added that similar with any other plant-based alternative, unCHEESE has to look, taste, feel and melts like real cheese.

For the initial launch of unCHEESE, CNPF partnered with affiliate Shakey’s Pizza Asia Ventures, Inc. and co-created its first plant-based pizza, contributing its 100 percent plant-based meat toppings and dairy-free cheese to the development of the new offering.

The new string of innovations also includes an e-commerce exclusive, a 100 percent plant-based, heat-and-eat pizza – unPIZZA. This new offering comes in three flavors – all made with unMEAT’s signature meat alternatives and unCHEESE.

On the retail end, CNPF debuted its vegan shelf-stable line with the launch of unMEAT Luncheon Meat for export – the first plant-based food company in the Philippines to do so.

CNPF leveraged its scale and expertise in shelf-stable food to develop the new plant-based format, using non-GMO plant-based proteins and ingredients.

“The shelf-stable plant-based format plays a huge role in developing specific markets because it drives accessibility. The price point is lower, making the switch to plant-based easier, and it’s less complex to distribute, leading to higher availability,” Dizon said.

To date, unMEAT’s shelf-stable products are already available in Singapore. According to Dizon, these will be made available domestically and in other key markets such as the United States and United Arab Emirates soon.

Dizon added, “The plant-based category has a huge potential, and essential to unlocking that value is through continuous innovation. As the category develops and awareness spreads, consumers will start to look for more.”

“We started unMEAT with 4 SKUs, the plant-based starting line. Now, we have a new range and exciting innovations in the pipeline, all designed to add diversity to the plant-based food choices of our consumers,” she said.