Plant-Based Meat Products Will Appear in Chinese Starbucks

For an American producer of meat substitutes, this will be the first entry into the Chinese market.

Starbucks has already reopened over 95% of its restaurants in China, which were closed due to quarantine. And now the chain of coffee shops has announced the updating of the menu - visitors to places in China will be offered to try the Beyond Meat brand products, which differ in that they look entirely indistinguishable from conventional meat products, but are made from vegetable ingredients. A total of three dishes will be added to the menu, using beef substitutes from Beyond Meat, including lasagna, pasta, and rolls. 

For Beyond Meat, this is not the first collaboration with Starbucks; some restaurants in Canada have presented sandwiches using products from the alternative meat producer. But the new phase of the partnership will be for the company to enter the Chinese market, in which Beyond Meat has ambitious plans. Thus, the company has previously reported that it plans to open its production in the Asian market by the end of 2020. 

As part of the new menu available to Starbucks visitors in China, there will also be two offers using alternative pork products from the Chinese company Omnipork. Also, the list will include oat milk substitutes from the Swedish vegan brand Oatly. 

Starbucks is thus joining the environmental movement, many of whose representatives claim that meat consumption has negative consequences for nature. The new menu items will be available in all Starbucks Chinese restaurants from April 23rd, and there are more than 3,300 of them.

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