Beyond Meat Plants Itself Deeper Into China with Alibaba Partnership

photo credit: @beyondmeat instagram

Beyond Meat is breaking into the grocery aisle in mainland China. The plant-based meat company will start selling its burger in 50 of the Alibaba-owned Freshippo supermarket stores in Shanghai this weekend, according to Beyond Meat. In September, it will expand to 48 more locations in China.

• Market size: China accounts for a quarter of global meat consumption. The country’s “free from meat” market, including plant-based meat alternatives, will be worth almost $12 billion by 2023, up from just under $10 billion in 2018, according to Euromonitor.

• Starbucks: In April, Beyond Meat brought its first  product to China, partnering with Starbucks to introduce Beyond Beef to more than 3,300 Starbucks locations across the country.

McDonald’s not lovin’ it: When one door closes, another one opens. The partnership in China follows the termination of a partnership with McDonald’s in Canada. After a 6-month trial of Beyond Meat’s burger in McDonald's across Canada, the partnership has ended due to weaker-than-expected feedback. McDonald's reportedly has no current plans to add it to the menu.

Foodservice risk: The foodservice industry, which is made up of businesses and services that prepare food outside the home, is a near-term risk for Beyond Meat, according to Barclay’s analyst Benjamin Theurer,  who double-downgraded the stock to "underweight" from "overweight" on Monday, citing that the sector has taken a hit from COVID-19 lockdowns. Before the pandemic, nearly half of the company’s sales came from foodservice, which Barclay’s says may not recover fully until 2021. Barclay’s has a $115 price target on the stock.