The world looks to Japan for plant-based products.
About Us.
Plant-based meats are gaining attention due to increasing concern around environmental issues and rising health consciousness, which is leading to an expanding global market. Among the players in the market, Next Meats is growing business at an exceptional speed. This is made possible by Japan’s unique art of product-making combined with a delicate sense of taste, and a passion to realize a sustainable society as quickly as possible. It all comes from our strong belief in the possibility of plant-based products, which makes us truly think this is the moment to make the revolution happen.
Spreading plant-based products globally with sustainability first.
Next Meats went from conducting research and development of plant-based meats to being publicly listed on the U.S. stock exchange just seven months after our founding. We continue to grow business both in Japan and around the world at incredible speed. In order to pass down a better global environment to the next generation, we are venturing into the global market with a proposal of new food options.
What can we do for the earth?
Next Meats started with a question from our two founders, Ryo Shirai and Hideyuki Sasaki, around wondering what they can do now to promote the well-being of our planet. They wanted to start a business with a focus on tackling environmental issues and mainly considered energy-related businesses, until they turned their attention to plant-based meats. According to the United Nations, 14.5%* of global CO2 emissions is said to come from livestock farming, which is roughly the same level as the transportation industry that includes emissions from airplanes and vehicles. In addition to methane that is released by livestock, large-scale factory farming that is dependent on deforestation to secure land and a large amount of water to grow feed for the livestock also places a tremendous burden on the environment. Ryo and Hideyuki wanted to explore ways to create a new option rather than continuing to increase demand for meat, and set out to conduct research and development of sustainable foods with plant proteins.
A Few Words About Us
Listed on the OTC market in the U.S. seven months after founding the company.
It took us three years to develop our plant-based products. While navigating their way forward with no previous experience in the business, Ryo and Hideyuki refused to compromise on the look, texture and taste of the products.
Hideyuki: “Alternative meat products were already on the market, but people don’t eat them if they aren’t delicious. We made almost three hundred prototypes in pursuit of quality.”
Once our plant-based products were finalized after numerous rounds of prototyping, we took action. We were listed as a SPAC in the U.S. and achieved a market capitalization value of 47.9 billion yen after seven months of our establishment. Having worked at a securities firm, Ryo knew from the beginning that it would be too late if we were newly listed in Japan.
Ryo: “Having the global market in view, going public in the U.S. was part of our strategy. There have been cases where companies that showed potential to grow in value in the future achieved a high valuation from the time of founding, and turned into tens of billions of yen. We are tackling climate change, so getting listed in five years with a market capitalization value of ten billion yen is pointless. Speed is of the essence to us, because what we are trying to achieve is a matter of great urgency.”
We started to sell our products in Taiwan, Singapore, Vietnam and Hong Kong at the end of 2020, and will soon be entering North America and Chinese markets. We are also distributing our products at extraordinary speed in Japan, selling them in the meat section of major supermarket chains and collaborating with Yakiniku barbecue restaurants.