appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

hooksArticlePageFloatingButtonConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

Yujie Xue

Beyond Meat has formed a new partnership with convenience-store chain Lawson to sell heat-and-eat dishes featuring plant-based protein in a number of Chinese cities including Shanghai.
The introduction comes on the same day that Shanghai started gradually reopening businesses after a lengthy lockdown.
The Nasdaq-listed vegan meat producer announced that Lawson is rolling out two plant-based lunchboxes – a spaghetti featuring Beyond Pork and a rice-and-vegetables dish featuring Beyond Beef – across more than 2,300 stores in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Shanghai and Anhui.
It marks Beyond Meat’s first partnership with a convenience-store chain in China.

The new products may meet a population eager to try new things in Shanghai, where many residents have been under mandatory lockdown with severely limited culinary options for nearly two months. Shanghai officials said on Sunday that the city on Monday would begin gradually reopening businesses such as shopping malls and restaurants.
The Lawson partnership is the latest move that reflects California-based Beyond Meat’s ambition to expand its presence in China, the world’s biggest consumer and importer of food products. The company has also expanded its online presence through partnerships with China’s three major e-commerce platforms – JD.com, Tmall, and Pinduoduo.


China’s meat consumption grew almost five times as fast as grain consumption between 1975 and 2008, although per capita consumption still lags behind Western countries such as the US and Argentina, according to data from Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy. In 2020, per capita consumption of meat and poultry reached 24.8 kilograms (kg) and 12.7kg, respectively, with pork as an especially strong component of the meat portion, according to the latest data from the National Bureau of Statistics of China.
Due to the African swine fever and China’s climate ambition to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2060, the alternative protein market is expected to see rapid expansion, as its plant- and cell-based protein sources have the potential to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions from the agriculture industry.
Beijing has called for strengthening innovation in the manufacturing of cultivated meat and other “future foods” in its five-year plan for agricultural development from 2021 to 2025. In March, Chinese President Xi Jinping also signalled support for protein diversification, including from plant-based and microorganism sources, saying that innovation is a key to food security and sustainable development.
By 2050, global annual sales of alternative proteins – including plant-based, fermentation-enabled, and cultivated meat – could reach US$250 billion, according to a report released last month by the Good Food Institute (GFI), an international network of non-profit organisations that promote plant- and cell-based alternatives to animal products.
Shanghai-based cultivated meat firm CellX raises US$10.6 million
Beyond Meat produces the Beyond Beef and Beyond Pork for the Lawson products in a manufacturing facility in the Jiaxing city of Zhejiang province. Beyond Pork is the company’s first plant-based meat created specifically for the Chinese market.
The company may face stiff competition from domestic players that are more familiar with the Chinese market. Hong Kong-based start-up OmniFoods, for example, sells a its OmniPork as well as a wide range of alternative seafood products globally. Shanghai-based cultivated meat start-up CellX just raised US$10 million in funding.
Beyond Meat and its many competitors also face the most important test of all.
“There is clear market interest in healthier and more sustainable sources of protein,” said Mirte Gosker, acting managing director of GFI Asia Pacific. “But existing offerings often fall short, so deeper investment in product research and development – especially on textural and flavour elements – is needed to develop and scale-up products that can appeal to Chinese consumers’ famously discerning palates.”


Can China’s grain reserves protect food security against El Nino?

Risk of unrest in Asia as Iran war, El Nino threaten food supplies

Bhutan banks on high-altitude hazelnuts to remake mountain farming

US declares end to lettuce parasite outbreak that killed 2

Food and agriculture

Beyond Meat and convenience-store chain Lawson to offer plant-based-meat meals in Shanghai, three other mainland cities

A Lawson store in the Yangpu district of Shanghai, pictured in 2018. Photo: Imaginechina via AFP

Beyond Meat’s Beyond Burger patties hit stores in 2019. The company has a presence on major e-commerce platforms in China. Photo: AFP

Beyond Meat launches store on Pinduoduo e-commerce platform as China’s appetite for plant-based protein soars

Plant-based meat is lower in fat, calories and cholesterol, and so carries greater health benefits than traditional meat. Photo: Reuters

Beyond Meat opens JD.com store in e-commerce push to entice meat substitute-averse Chinese consumers

Beyond Meat “Beyond Burger” patties made from plant-based substitutes for meat products sit on a shelf for sale on November 15, 2019, in New York City. Photo: AFP

Chinese plant-based meat start-up takes on Beyond Meat with pork and crayfish products

Chinese start-up Zhenmeat is launching its new vegan products in hotpot restaurant chains. The company’s plant-based crayfish (above).

Sichuan Hotpot

Beyond Beef Pesto Pasta Photo:

China homegrown plant-based meat startup Zhenmeat founder Vince Lu ZhongmingPhoto: HANDOUT[FEATURES 2020]

Chinese plant-based meat start-up Zhenmeat has created a pork tenderloin product which it is selling in Sichuan hotpot restaurants.

The fake-meat challenge for US firms in China, where millions aspire to eat real meat and plant-based foods are natural

A burger featuring a Beyond Burger patty by US plant-based imitation meat producer Beyond Meat, which is looking to break into the Chinese market.

Zhenmeat faux meat mookcakes. Photo: Handout [FEATURES 2019]

The ingredients of Omnipork, the plant-based meat product from Hong Kong-based start-up Green Monday, include rice, peas, non-GMO (genetically modified organism) soy and shiitake mushroom. Photo: Handout

Raymond Xie, owner of Zerogo, vegan restaurant, poses for photo at his restaurant at Wangjing, China's capital city Beijing on Jul. 29, 2018. 29JUL18 [FEATURES] SCMP / Simon Song

Ethan Brown, founder and chief executive officer of Beyond Meat Inc., speaks during an interview at the Nasdaq MarketSite during the company's initial public offering (IPO) in New York, U.S., on Thursday, May 2, 2019. Beyond Meat Inc. more than doubled in its trading debut after raising $241 million in an upsized initial public offering that priced at the top of the marketed range. Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg

Vegan people have a gathering at Zerogo, vegan restaurant at Wangjing, China's capital city Beijing on Jul. 29, 2018. 29JUL18 [FEATURES] SCMP / Simon Song

A Roasted Vegetables Platter dish is pictured at Zerogo, vegan restaurant at Wangjing, China's capital city Beijing on Jul. 29, 2018. 29JUL18 [FEATURES] SCMP / Simon Song

A Beet and Granny Smith Apple Bowl with Mango and Carrot Mustard dish is pictured at Zerogo, vegan restaurant at Wangjing, China's capital city Beijing on Jul. 29, 2018. 29JUL18 [FEATURES] SCMP / Simon Song

epa08005481 A Chinese worker pushes many porks in a pork wholesales hall of a market in Beijing, China, 18 November 2019. The Chinese agricultural ministry has urged all-out efforts in China's nine provincial-level regions to restore hog production while authorities were engaged in efforts to prevent and control African swine fever, according to media reports. EPA-EFE/WU HONG

Beyond Meat gets an edge in China as its meatless burgers become first in grocery stores

Beyond Meat’s plant-based burger patties went on sale Saturday in Shanghai Hema grocery stores. Photo: Bloomberg

Business

News


More than 2,300 Lawson stores in four regions will sell heat-and-eat lunchboxes featuring Beyond Beef and Beyond Pork.
The introduction, which comes just as citizens are starting to emerge from lockdown in Shanghai, is the company’s latest move to curry favour with Chinese palates.



2,300 Lawson stores in four regions will sell heat-and-eat lunchboxes featuring Beyond Beef and Beyond Pork, in the company’s latest move to capture a growing appetite for meat among Chinese consumers.


Chinese food trends

Business of climate change

China and climate change

Environment