Plant-based meat dishes are seen offered at a Starbucks store on April 22, 2020 in Shanghai, China.
As China reopens restaurants and cafes, more plant-based "fake" meat products are popping up on menus.
On Wednesday, Beyond Meat started selling its plant-based food in China through thousands of Starbucks cafes.
Fast-food chain KFC said it will also start trialling fake chicken nuggets from next week.
As China recovers from the coronavirus outbreak, more people are looking to lead healthier lifestyles.
US-based
Beyond Meat said it had "seen the growing demand for plant-based meat
in China" and is offering three meals across 3,300 Starbucks in China.
The majority of Starbucks outlets in the country have now re-opened,
having been forced to close in late January.
This
week, KFC said it will start selling plant-based fried chicken for the
first time in China for a trial period in Shanghai and the southern
cities of Guangzhou and Shenzhen.
- Starbucks closes 2,000 China outlets due to virus
- Plant-based 'pork 'launched by Impossible Foods
- Starbucks bans reusable cups in response to virus
Western
brands are hoping to tap into a growing demand for meat substitutes in
China following a global trend to eat less meat and more plant-based
foods.
China
is also dealing with a meat shortage, particularly pork supplies, after
African swine fever wiped out half of its hog herd in 2018. It has been
struggling to import pork due to virus restrictions on factories across
the world.
"We
see Asia as a key region for strategic long-term growth and Beyond
Meat's goal is to have localized production within Asia by the end of
2020," said a Beyond Meat spokesman. Its products are currently
distributed in several countries across Asia including Singapore, South
Korea, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines.
But
the likes of Starbucks, KFC and Beyond Meat face challenges convincing
Chinese consumers to eat their plant-based fake meats.
"The
demand for healthier, non-meat proteins is not as high in China as in
the US because Chinese already eat more vegetables as part of their
daily diet than Americans and Europeans. It's relatively rare for
Chinese to say they are vegetarians," said Shaun Rein at the China
Market Research Group.
In the UK, fast-food companies, from Greggs to McDonald's and Burger King to KFC, have launched, or announced, vegan options.
No comments:
Post a Comment