Hong Kong-Based 'Green Monday' Snags Rs 514.85 Crores In One Of Asia's Biggest Funding Rounds

23 September 2020

Popular plant-based food company Green Monday Holdings raised a whooping USD $70 million in a new funding round led by private equity firm giant TPG’s The Rise Fund and Cathay Pacific parent company Swire Pacific on Monday. It is the largest fundraising of its kind till date in the plant-based food space in Asia! CPT Capital, Jefferies Group, Sino Group’s Ng Family Trust, Taiwanese-American pop star-cum-actor Wang Leehom and 'Room To Read' founder John Wood, raised the capital for the company's fourth round of funding informed Green Monday. Founded by David Yeung as an advocacy platform for plant-based lifestyle, the Green Monday Group has expanded into catering, distribution and production since its inception on Earth Day in 2012. The group is currently Asia’s largest distributor of wholesale plant-based products for retail and food service partners.

On its mission to make China's diet greener, it created a meatless pork alternative called OmniPork—a major breakthrough in China that consumes over 50% of the world’s pork. Since 2012, the Green Monday Group has been working towards building a global ecosystem of plant-based food that tackles climate change, food insecurity and public health crisis. It runs OmniFoods (manufacturer of plant-based pork alternatives) and Green Common (plant-based food stores and restaurants) in China, and its investors include filmmaker James Cameron and British photographer Mary McCarthy (daughter of Sir Paul McCartney). The group also made news this week after Fortune Magazine ranked the Green Monday Group #32 on its 2020 'Change the World' list - an annual ranking of top brands that are working towards meeting society's unmet needs.

Speaking exclusively to VeganFirst after bagging funding of US$ 70 Million, David Yeung said, "This is a milestone for not just the Green Monday team but the entire Asia plant-based and sustainability movement. We look forward to deeper the market penetration in the current markets as well as expand to new markets including India through strategic partnerships!"


OmniPork is a pork meat alternative that's fast gaining popularity among Chinese who love their  pork; Photo source: https://greenmonday.org/


Green Monday Co-Founder David Yeung

With the funding, the company plans to use a part of the capital raised to expand its production, R&D and retail network. It also has plans to open it's first production plant in Southern China. Green Monday has plans to expand its operations to 20+ global markets and also plans to increase its Point-Of-Sale operations with retail partners from 20,000 to 40,000 in the next 6 months.

Against the backdrop of the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic and amidst concerns about food safety sparked by African Swine Fever Virus (ASFV), consumer interest and investments in the alternative protein space has skyrocketed in China in 2020. A recent report by international investment network FAIRR showed that two in five major retail brands have their own dedicated plant-based departments now. Kroger, Tesco, Unilever and Nestle are some of the global retail giants who want a share of the plant-based pie now.

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