Today Taco Bell launched a limited edition taco made with plant-based Omnipork in all Shanghai locations. Called the OmniPork Crunchy Taco, the offering will feature OmniPork’s meat-free ground pork cooked with spicy Yu Xiang sauce and lettuce. The fast-food chain will sell 6,000 of these tacos, priced at RMB 25 ($3.58 USD) each, starting today until they run out.
For those who don’t know, OmniPork is the first product from Green Monday, the Hong Kong-based group of restaurants and shops focused on promoting vegan dining in Asia. Green Monday founder David Yeung developed OmniPork, a ground pork substitute made from plants, specifically to appeal to Asian audiences who eat pork far more than, say, beef or chicken.
OmniPork is already sold in Hong Kong, Singapore, Macau and Thailand. It also made its debut in mainland China last month through online retailer Tmall. When announcing the news, Yeung said that OmniPork would be rolling out at over 180 restaurants in Shanghai and Beijing over the next two months. Clearly at least a few of those spots are Taco Bells.
Taco Bell is the first fast-food venue to sell OmniPork. It may seem ironic that the first QSR partner for a company focused on Asian palates is one that serves Tex-Mex food. However, Chinese consumers have taken to the fast-food chain since it returned to the country after an almost ten-year hiatus. The OmniPork Crunchy Taco is also specifically developed with Chinese flavors and uses plant-based pork instead of beef, as a nod to China’s most popular meat.
The Taco Bell partnership could be just the beginning for OmniPork’s foray into fast food. “We are confident that this special promotional launch is the beginning of a long partnership between the Green Monday group with Taco Bell as well as other brands under the Yum China portfolio,” stated Yeung in a press release.
Considering that the Yum China portfolio also includes KFC, Pizza Hut, and others, if the OmniPork Crunchy Taco has a favorable debut I bet we’ll be seeing OmniPork pop up in a lot more fast-food restaurants in China very soon.
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