Restaurant menus in India have a ubiquitous red dot next to dishes containing meat, fish and egg, and a green dot against vegetarian food. To Abhishek Sinha, the red dot is the bad dot, given the harm meat causes animals and its impact on our environment and health. The green dot is the good one. That’s the logic behind the name of the startup he cofounded in 2016 — GoodDot Enterprises.Udaipur-based GoodDot is betting on an idea popularised by US companies, particularly Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods. The two California-based companies have tried to make alternatives to meat from proteins extracted from plants such as pea, wheat and potato. The flagship product for both companies is the burger patty (a substitute for beef ). Beyond Meat also sells plant-based pork sausages, chicken strips and beef crumble.While there is a debate raging on whether these products that try to approximate the flavour and texture of meat can even be called meat, the market potential is beyond doubt.Sales of plant-based meat in the year to August 11 totalled $684 million, or around Rs 4,950 crore, according to market research firm Nielsen. There are also companies creating meat in labs from animal cells, but these are in nascent stages. GoodDot wants to make the most of this potential in India.It uses pea protein, wheat gluten, soy protein and soy flour, among other ingredients, to make its food taste like meat. Unlike the US firms, GoodDot is not aiming to replace beef, which is not the meat of choice in India.According to Euromonitor International, in 2017, chicken accounted for half of India’s meat market, by volume. Beef and buffalo meat accounted for a fourth, and mutton and lamb less than a fifth. Sinha says one of GoodDot’s four products, called Vegetarian Meat and sold in chunks, could be a replacement for mutton or chicken, depending on whether it is cooked in a curry or as kebabs. “You need to provide credible alternatives to meateaters — tasty and with nutrients,” says the 37-year-old, a chemical engineer who joined the Indian Revenue Service and was a deputy commissioner of income tax before starting this venture.After tasting their products, this writer found that while they approximate the look and texture of mutton, they tend to have a soy-like sponginess while chewing.Sinha, a self-confessed animal lover, turned vegetarian five years ago and was keen on bringing meat substitutes to India. Through an animal shelter in Udaipur, run by an American couple, he eventually came in contact with the Good Food Institute, a nonprofit in the US that promotes plant-based meat, dairy, and egg substitutes. The company started commercial production at its Udaipur plant a year ago.Sinha is loath to divulge any numbers, except to say GoodDot sells 10,000-15,000 packets a day (its products are sold in 150-250 g packs). The sales occur through its own website, Amazon, Paytm Mall and RCM, a direct seller like Amway.GoodDot also wants to familiarise its product through quick-service restaurants run by a group company. There are three outlets in Udaipur, including two food trucks. There is one more outlet in the works in the city, along with two each in Lucknow, Bengaluru and Gurgaon.To fund its growth, Good Dot has raised undisclosed sums from individual investors and $200,000 from New Crop Capital, which has also invested in Beyond Meat, according to Venture Intelligence and company filings with the ministry of corporate affairs.Bruce Friedrich, executive director of the Good Food Institute and advisor to GoodDot, says the company’s breakthrough is producing plant-based meat at a fraction of the cost of global competitors.A 250 g pack of Vegetarian Meat retails for Rs 135 and a 200 g pack of Achari Tikka costs Rs 165. (Beyond Meat sells its 227 g pack of two burger patties in the US for $5.99, or Rs 430.) Sinha says GoodDot’s products can be used in multiple recipes, unlike the burger patties offered by the US firms.Another advantage, he says, is that GoodDot’s products do not need to be refrigerated till opened and have a shelf life of a year. “One thing that Good Dot does is it allows people to eat meat — plant-based meat — without any of the religious objections, adverse health consequences and without the horrible effect on the environment,” says Friedrich.But some are sceptical of the potential of plant-based meat in India. “This is an example of a consumer trend that has been ported out of California and is a cultural misfit in India,” says Mark Kahn, founding partner of Omnivore Partners, which invests in agri and food tech startups. Vegetarians in India avoid meat because of religious and cultural traditions and not out of animal welfare concerns, he says. “Indian vegetarians are so meat-averse that many don’t eat mushrooms because of the texture.”According to a 2014 government survey, more than 70 per cent of Indians aged 15 and older eat meat. Telangana is on top of the list, with nearly 99 per cent of its population eating meat. Rajasthan, where GoodDot is based, is the most meat-averse, with three-fourths of its population being vegetarian. Jay Karandikar, a venture partner with New Crop Capital, says we need to act before meat consumption goes up in India. “If we look at the problems of pork consumption in China, it would have been nice if we could go back 30 years and create plantbased alternatives to what is now a highly problematic staple in the Chinese diet — one that has a near-perfect correlation to the rise of diabetes in that region.”Livestock contributes around 15 per cent to global man-made greenhouse gas emissions, and cattle (beef and dairy) are responsible for over 60 per cent of livestock emissions. Pigs and chicken each cause a sixth of the emissions produced by cattle, says the Food and Agriculture Organization.Dilip Radhakrishna, a research analyst with Euromonitor International, says meat alternatives from plant proteins is an unlikely market opportunity in India in the near future. “Fading cultural boundaries, search for nutritious food and regular exercise are some of the reasons which will keep the demand for protein-rich meat and seafood market strong in the coming years.”It’s still early days for GoodDot, as plantbased meat are still a novelty even in countries like the US and is virtually unheard of in India. While there is a small fraction of urban Indians who are shunning meat for ethical reasons, whether they will take to plant-based meat is moot.