Meat giant Cargill is launching a range of new vegan products in China, including plant-based scallops. The products will be released under PlantEver, Cargill’s plant-based brand.
At the moment, PlantEver has two plant-based options available in China: nuggets and plant-based patties. These can be purchased via Cargill’s Sun Valley Tmall platform.
Together with new chicken-free tenders, the vegan scallops will be available in Japanese convenience store chain Lawson, which has more than 1,000 locations in China.
According to Jackson Chan, the managing director of Cargill China, the company is “taking an inclusive approach to the future of protein.” It plans to keep investing in animal protein, as well as new, plant-based meat products.
He said in a statement: “We will continue to offer safe, responsible, and sustainable proteins to customers and consumers by flexing our supply chain advantage and global research and development expertise”
‘Just the Beginning’
Cargill launched PlantEver following the success of its partnership with KFC. The company teamed up with the fast-food giant in May to trial vegan chicken nuggets in Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou.
The nuggets sold quickly in every location they were available. In Shanghai, pre-sale coupons, which were required for participating in the trial, sold out within one hour.
Now, Cargill is looking to provide even more plant-based options to the foodservice sector through PlantEver.
Elizabeth Gutschenritter, managing director of Cargill’s alternative protein team, said earlier this year: “We’ve combined our deep knowledge of plant proteins with our expertise in R&D, product development, and production to deliver products consumers will love.”
Demand for vegan meat is growing in China. The country’s “free-from meat” market, which includes plant-based protein, could be worth almost $12 billion in the next three years, according to Euromonitor. In 2018, it was worth just under $10 billion.
Cargill isn’t alone in supplying Chinese consumers with more vegan options.
California-based Beyond Meat has also launched plant-based products in China. Earlier this year, it teamed up with Starbucks to launch three new meat-free pasta and lasagna dishes. It was also trialed in KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell. The coffee chain also added two new vegan pork dishes, using plant-based meat by Hong Kong-based OmniFoods.
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