Beyond Meat is coming to Alibaba's grocery stores in China

On Wednesday, the manufacturer of vegetable protein announced a new partnership with the Alibaba, China's technology giant, which will bring the stuff outside the Hamburg to the supermarket shelves in Chinese mainland for the first time. Alibaba

Alibaba will launch the product in 50 Xinbao stores in Shanghai. Xinbao is Alibaba's futuristic supermarket. Customers can order food and buy groceries through the app. This cooperation marks the first time that Meat has appeared in supermarkets in Chinese mainland. In April, Meat first established a large partnership with Starbucks (Starbucks) in Chinese mainland. Before that, the products of food and nutrition in Europe companies were sold in Hong Kong.

"We know that retail is going to be a key part of our success in China and we are happy to see this early milestone in the months we have entered the Chinese market," Ethan brown, chief executive, said in a statement "It's natural that expanding into retail is the next step in building our market presence."

Alibaba is the latest important partner of Beyond in Chinese mainland. This huge market is seen as crucial to the growth of the US company.

Speaking on the latest earnings call in May, Brown said beyond had recently set up a Chinese website and opened an account on Chinese social media platforms such as Tencent's wechat to promote its listing in China.

Last month, beyond said it would introduce its products to some of China's most popular fast-food chains, including KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell. Just a few weeks ago, the company announced an agreement with Starbucks to offer meatless spaghetti, lasagna and packaging on the menu.

Beyond has also reached a new agreement with local food distributor Sinodis, which will help the company supply Chinese restaurants and catering suppliers, Brown said.

The competition is fierce. Although the trend of fake meat is still forming in mainland China, Beyond is competing with other popular brands, including the new Impossible Foods, also from California, who has indicated that it plans to launch its own products in Chinese mainland.

Alibaba hopes to profit from this growing phenomenon. "We see growing consumer interest in vegetable meat, and we look forward to offering more products other than meat in the future," Zhao Jiayu, senior director and head of purchasing at freshppo, Alibaba's new retail program, said in a statement.

In addition to storing patties in stores, alibaba will start offering them on its app, so that anyone who wants to order them at home can receive a home delivery service.

The two companies plan to expand their partnership in the autumn and will start selling hamburgers in dozens of stores in Beijing and Hangzhou in September.

Article source: https://article-realm.com/article/Health-Fitness/Meditation/10468-Beyond-Meat-is-coming-to-Alibabas-grocery-stores-in-China.html