Beyond Meat is now on JD.com despite China's low interest in plant-based meat alternatives

Beyond Meat is now on China’s leading e-commerce platform, JD.com. The American producer of plant-based meat has opened its store on the said site despite the fact that the Chinese are said to be not very interested in meat alternatives.

On Thursday, July 15, Beyond Meat revealed that it has already opened its online store in China via JD.com. The company took this step as part of its goal to bolster sales through the biggest meat market in the world.

Entrance to the Chinese market

While China has the biggest meat market, the interest in meat substitutes there is low, according to Reuters. However, Beyond Meat is still taking chances because their products could attract more customers and spark the Chinese’s interest in plant-based meat.

Once the company attracts customers on JD.com, the business would surely do well in the country. In any case, the announcement of its launch in China comes not long after the company brought back its chicken meat alternative, the Beyond Chicken Tenders.

With the new addition to its range of plant-based products, Beyond Meat will be bringing all of these to China through its store on JD.com. Setting up a shop on the platform will make the items more accessible to Chinese consumers and this is another reason why the company decided to come to the e-commerce site.

“Beyond Meat is excited to launch its store on JD.com to expand our local availability and reach consumers throughout China,” Vegconomist quoted Beyond Meat China’s general manager, Candy Chan, as saying in a statement. “With increased capabilities thanks to our new manufacturing facility in the JXEDZ, we are able to offer a growing portfolio of great-tasting, locally-produced plant-based meat products that are nutritious and sustainable.”

Locations where Beyond Meat will be available in China

The brand will be on JD.com but the places where it can be delivered are limited to four major cities as of this time. It will be expanded later on but currently, it was mentioned that the Beyond Meat products will only be available in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen. Eventually, the scope will be extended to 300 cities across China.

It was revealed that Beyond Meat products are also available in China through popular restaurants such as Starbucks, Yum China Holdings and Alibaba Group. The products are not sold as they are but are used as ingredients through the company’s partner restaurants.