Beyond Meat opens its first factory in China to encourage more consumers in the world’s largest country to eat its plant-based burgers and other artificial meat.
The El Segundo, California-based company announced on Wednesday that its new facility near Shanghai will be its first outside of the United States. Beyond Meat came to China last year through partnerships with Starbucks and Yum China, which distribute their counterfeit pork, beef and poultry to supermarkets.
Beyond Meat products are also on the menu at KFC and Pizza Hut stores in China, but the new manufacturing facility will significantly increase reach in the country, the company said.
“We are determined to invest in China as a region for long-term growth,” said founder and managing director Ethan Brown in a statement.
China consumes about half of the world’s pork, however A growing vegan movement is taking shape in Chinaas previously reported by The Post. The Chinese government has also encouraged the move away from meat. In 2016, it committed itself to partially reducing CO2 emissions by calling on its citizens to reduce their meat consumption.
Beyond Meat got a crack in the US where this year there are inked offers McDonald’s is said to be the supplier of the fast food giant’s McPlant veggie burger, and with snack and beverage giant PepsiCo, with whom the company has partnered with PLANet to develop a new line of snacks.
It is Impossible Foods’ main competitor has recently lowered its wholesale prices around the world including Asia to increase consumption of its counterfeit meat product featured in Burger Kings Impossible Whopper.
Beyond Meat said it also has plans to open its first facility in Europe this year.
