Beyond Meat Ventures Offshore: First Production Site Outside The U.S. Opens In China

9 April 2021

As demand for plant-based products is rising in Asia, plant-based meat company Beyond Meat has set up a manufacturing facility in China, making it the first production site the brand has opened outside the United States.

The facility is the culmination of Beyond Meat's partnership with the Jiaxing Economic & Technological Development Zone last September to establish a facility in Shanghai. This is the first multinational plant-based meat manufacturing site to open in Shanghai.

The facility is an attempt by Beyond Meat to boost production, improve costs, and adopt more sustainable methods of production. It will be expanding in the mainland Chinese market with its plant-based beef, pork and poultry alternatives.

The California-based company will be focusing on manufacturing Beyond Pork, a plant-based pork alternative developed primarily for mainland China.

The production site will also be improving R&D to explore new product developments.

Ethan Brown, founder and CEO of Beyond Meat commented:

“We are committed to investing in China as a region for long-term growth, and we believe this new manufacturing facility will be instrumental in advancing our pricing and sustainability metrics as we seek to provide Chinese consumers with delicious plant-based proteins that are good for both people and planet.”

The CEO is aiming to take over the Chinese market with plant-based meats as it has the largest meat-consuming population globally.

Beyond Meat debuted in mainland China through Starbucks, KFC, Pizza Hut, Jindingxuan, GangLi Beijing, Slow Boat Brewery, Hema and METRO China.

The company is also looking to expand into Europe with a new production facility in late 2021.

Global brands are grasping the opportunity to expand in the continent, as international conglomerate Nestle also recently opened a production facility in Malaysia. Asia is the largest market in the world, and with new companies entering the continent, the future for the Asian plant-based industry holds a lot of potential.

Image Courtesy: Beyond Meat