China embraces plant-based protein as consumers look for alternatives to meat amid Covid-19

With wet markets in China under the spotlight as potential hotspots for fresh coronavirus outbreaks, consumers are looking for alternative sources of protein in their diets. That shift is providing start-ups and their investors with an opportunity to profit from China’s fledgling food tech sector.

Beyond Meat, the US plant-based meat company that launched a successful initial public offering on Nasdaq in May last year, made its retail debut in China last month with its Beyond Burger available in Alibaba Group Holding’s 50 Freshippo stores in Shanghai. The company also pledged to bring its products to 48 more Freshippo stores across China by the end of the year.

The partnership with Alibaba, which owns the South China Morning Post, is the latest move in China’s increasingly crowded food tech sector. In June, Yum China – owner of China’s KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell outlets – also joined with Beyond Meat to offer several plant-based beef dishes.

Hong Kong plant-based meat brand Omnipork announced a partnership with Starbucks in April to offer plant-based pork dishes that cater to an Asian palate. Nestle, the Swiss-based multinational food and drink giant, also announced plans to build a plant-based food plant in China.

“It's a great opportunity to start educating and introducing this new option to the masses for the first time,” said Matilda Ho, founder and managing director of Shanghai-based food tech venture capital firm Bits x Bites. “There’s been growing interest among Chinese consumers about plant-based meat since last summer.”

Demand has already been growing in the world’s second largest economy. China’s vegan food market is forecast to be worth nearly US$12 billion by 2023, up from just under US$10 billion in 2018, according to a report issued last year by Euromonitor International. Sales of plant-based meat in China increased from US$7.2 billion in 2014 to US$9.7 billion in 2018, according to the same report.