China’s lucrative Alternative Meat market attracts foreign players

It is projected that production of alternative meat in China will touch US$11.9 billion by 2023. The market for plant-based meat has grown 33.5% since 2014 reaching a value of US$9.7 billion in 2019.
With huge growth potential, China market has attracted major US alternative meat suppliers such as Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods to initially enter the market through retail and food services distribution, and later expanded to setting up own production facilities once these players are confident of the demand for their products. These 2 players have already considered China as their main vehicle for growth in the medium term.
These foreign players have to compete with domestic players who are more familiar with local tastes. Nevertheless, as the price of real meat has gone up by more than 30% in recent years, the alternative meat boom is here to stay and compete. And this is boosted by growing consumers fear over COVID-19 pandemic and the swine fever which made them wanting to switch to a safer product – i.e. plant-based meat which is perceived to be healthier, hygienic and lower chance of viral exposure.
Chinese plant-based companies however are more focused on pork alternative, not beef, as the Chinese are the world’s biggest consumer of pork with a per capita consumption of 57kg. China consumes almost 50% of the world’s pork, and with the swine fever and other epidemics which commonly affect the pig herd, there might not be enough pork to feed the Chinese in the near future. As such, ‘meat alternative’ pork is the nearest solution to this problem.
China has a huge middle class of 440 million with incomes comparable to the US citizens (US$35,000 to US$45,000 on average) and they belong to the young segment between 18 to 29 years old that are able to accept western food culture and tastes.
Although pork is the main meat staple in China, there is a growing preference for premium beef particularly among the middle class who seek quality US, Australasian and Japanese beef products.
At present, China is the world’s 2nd largest economy and also 2nd largest consumer market after the US with sales reaching US$5.8 trillion.