SBUX Starbucks Corporation

By Lucy Craymer 

One of America's largest purveyors of fake meat will start selling its products in China from Wednesday, taking advantage of the country's reopening after authorities there slowed the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Beyond Meat Inc. said products incorporating its "plant-based minced beef" will be sold at more than 3,300 Starbucks stores across China, marking the Los Angeles-based food producer's market entry into the world's second-largest economy. Items on Starbucks's menu will include lasagna with cheese, pasta with pesto, and a spicy and sour tortilla wrap that all contain Beyond Beef, which is designed to mimic the taste, texture and smell of ground beef.

Starbucks Corp. has more than 4,300 stores in China, according to a spokesman. The country is the Seattle-based company's second-largest market after the U.S. Starbucks earlier this year closed most of its Chinese stores when the coronavirus was spreading across the country, and reopened many of them after figures from Chinese health authorities showed a sharp drop in the numbers of new infections.

More than 95% of Starbucks's China stores are currently open, and much of the country has returned to work since March. China on Tuesday reported 11 new cases of Covid-19, the respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus, bringing its total case count to 82,758. Some 4,632 people have died from the disease in the country, and about 1,000 remain sick with it, excluding asymptomatic carriers.

Beyond Meat and its main U.S. rival, Impossible Foods Inc., are trying to grab a share of China's nascent but potentially lucrative market for meat alternatives. Beyond Meat said it believes there is growing demand for more plant-based meat substitutes and intends to begin localized manufacturing in China by the end of 2020. Late last year, Redwood City, Calif.-based Impossible Foods let people sample its plant-based meat burger at a Shanghai trade fair that Chinese President Xi Jinping attended.

Beyond Meat has set up a Chinese-language website and is also promoting its brand on social-media outlets Weibo and WeChat to reach domestic consumers. A WeChat post on Tuesday stated that plant protein is "nutritious and environmentally friendly."

The KFC fast-food chain, operated by Yum China Holdings Inc., on Monday said it is planning to sell plant-based fried "chicken" nuggets in some Chinese cities for a few days this month. A serving of five nuggets will be sold for 1.99 yuan ($0.28) in what the company described as a public test. A WeChat post described the nuggets as "version 1.0," and said it has the "feeling of meat in the mouth."

Some Chinese entrepreneurs, including Beijing-based startup Zhenmeat, are also rushing their own meat substitutes to market, betting they can better cater to local palates.

Starbucks said the new plant-based menu items are part of the company's goal of improving its environmental footprint. Starbucks will also be selling OmniPork products, made by Hong Kong company Green Monday, and oat milk made by Swedish company Oatly Inc.

In March, Beyond Meat and Starbucks introduced Beyond Breakfast Sausage at Starbucks locations across Canada.

Zhou Wei contributed to this article.

Write to Lucy Craymer at Lucy.Craymer@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 21, 2020 04:51 ET (08:51 GMT)

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