Photo/Shetuwang

Oct. 16 (NBD) -- Stock of food producer Jinzi Ham(002515, SZ) dived dramatically on Wednesday by 8.53 percent to close at 6.22 yuan (88 cents) per share after receiving a notice from the authorities that questioned whether the company violated the regulations for information disclosure.

Before that, Jinzi Ham stock surged by daily limit of 10 percent for two consecutive days after the company announced obtainment of production permit and commencement of producing 'artificial meat' cakes on Monday.

National Business Daily (NBD) noticed that the food company has already started to take online preorders for the plant-based meat product on Alibaba's shopping platform and the imitation meat pies are priced at 118 yuan for four.

The news of vegan meat products boosted the share prices of Jinzi Ham, but also drew attention from the regulator about the information disclosure.

In responding to investors' questions, the food producer said previously on October 10 that its production permit had been approved and the production had kicked off. But the formal announcement was made on October 14. The Shenzhen Stock Exchange in a letter sent to Jinzi Ham on Tuesday afternoon requested the company to explain the delay of information disclosure. 

After the sensational debut of Beyond Meat (NASDAQ: BYND), artificial meat has been a sought-after.

According to research firm MarketsandMarkets, the global plant-based meat market is expected to reach 12.1 billion U.S. dollars in 2019 and stand at 27.9 billion U.S. dollars by 2025 with a compound annual growth rate of 15 percent.

Domestically speaking, compared with countries like the U.S., China makes forays in the domain fairly later. But many are still quite buoyant about the market prospect in China.

"The industry boasts huge demand and will have a promising prospect if it further expands the production capacity, realizes industrialization, and lowers the costs," predicted analyst Xu Xiongjun.

China is predicted to be the leader in the Asian Pacific area in the artificial meat industry, according to MarketsandMarkets.

However, some industry insiders warned of consumer acceptance of the vegan meat as some people concern about food safety.

"At present, the price is relatively high since the artificial meat product is still at an early stage for promotion when consumers are more willing to pay less to buy real meat," remarked Xu Xiongjun in a media report, "The artificial meat market just needs more time to mature in terms of consumer acceptance."

Email: gaohan@nbd.com.cn