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The Spoon

Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

plant-based pork

Green Monday Brings Its Plant-Based Pork to U.K. Restaurants for the First Time

Plant-based food company Green Monday will expand its global reach beyond Asia starting with its first-ever restaurant partnerships in the U.K. The Hong Kong-based company’s OmniPork product, a plant-based version of minced pork, arrived in the U.K. this week as part of several restaurants’ Veganuary menus, according to an article from Green Queen Media.

Nine restaurants will carry OmniPork on their menus as part of their participation in Veganuary. Green Monday described these restaurant partnerships as the company’s “soft launch” into the U.K. The company will officially launch in both foodservice and retail in the U.K. later this year.

Participating restaurants this month include Plant Hustler in Bournemouth and Eat Chay in Shoreditch, as well as online delivery services Alta Foods, Viet Vegan, and Kay Kay Foods.

OmniPork already enjoys a sizable presence across Asia, including China, Singapore, Macau, and Thailand. Notably, Green Monday struck a covetable partnership with McDonald’s in 2020 to bring OmniPork to the mega-QSR’s restaurants in Hong Kong and Macau. Green Monday also raised $70 million last year, part of which will go towards further expansion of OmniPork’s geographical reach. Green Monday’s expansion comes the same week Discos, one of China’s leading QSR chains, completely swapped out chicken-based eggs for a plant-based alternative on its menu, highlighting the increasing demand from consumers for alternative proteins. By some accounts, demand for alternative protein is expected to increase 200 percent over the next five years in certain parts of Asia.

Over in Europe, the market for plant-based meat and dairy alternatives is expected to reach €7.5 billion (~$9.1 billion USD) by 2025. As in Asia, shifting consumer eating habits are the major force driving this growth.   

The U.S. remains the largest market for alternative protein, though others are catching up fast. This week’s news from Green Monday and the company’s forthcoming expansion to the U.K. and beyond is further proof of that.

Beyond Meat Launches Minced Pork Product in China

Beyond Meat debuted its new plant-based pork product made specifically for the Chinese market yesterday, according to a report in Green Queen. Called Beyond Pork, the new offering is minced and meant to be used in a variety of Asian dishes including dumplings, spring rolls and on ramen.

Beyond Pork will be available at a number of different Shanghai restaurants including Egg, RAC and Solo X for a limited time between now and November 24.

The unveiling of Beyond Pork comes just days after Beyond announced the next versions of its signature Beyond Meat burger patty here in the U.S. But it’s also just the latest in a series of moves the company has made to expand into China. The company has signed deals to get on the menus of Starbucks, KFC, Taco Bell and Pizza Hut in China, as well as on retail shelves at Alibaba stores. More importantly, however, Beyond is building two production facilities in China (one of which is near Shanghai) that will go into full production next year.

But Beyond is going to be the away team in this particular game to get plant-based pork into the hands of Chinese consumers. Omnipork, which is operated by Hong Kong-based Green Monday, already has a number of plant-based pork products at market in China.

Plant-based pork is coming at an auspicious time. China is the world’s largest consumer of pork, but the country has been battling outbreaks of swine fever over the past two years reducing domestic herd counts and driving up prices. Plant-based meat products like those from Beyond and Omnipork can sidestep those issues.