Starbucks Is Launching Vegan Menu In China, Featuring Beyond Meat, Omnipork & Oatly

The world's most popular coffee chain announced it would launch a new vegan menu in its stores across China. 

The new offerings include dishes using Beyond Meat's plant-based beef products, as well as dishes with plant-based pork substitute from Omnipork and drinks with oat milk from Oatly.

Starbucks has reopened its stores in China, where the coronavirus pandemics appear to be slowing down. 

The chain is focusing now on a new plant-based food and beverage menu to attract more environmentally-conscious customers. 

The launch is particularly crucial for Beyond Meat which for a long time planned to expand to Asia. 

Using Beyond Meat's plant-based beef products in its meals, Starbucks marked the company's entry into the Chinese market. 

Now, the American producer of meat alternatives is preparing its new Chinese version of the website and starts using Weibo and WeChat - social media channels allowed in China.

"Today we mark an important milestone as Beyond Meat launches in China, advancing our goal of increasing accessibility to plant-based protein globally," Ethan Brown, Beyond Meat's founder and chief executive, said in a statement.

Beyond Beef is the second product of Beyond Meat sold in the world's biggest coffee chain. 

Earlier this year the chain rolled out Beyond's breakfast sausages in Canada. 

The new lunch menu at Starbucks also includes dishes made with vegan meat from Omnipork, a plant-based pork alternative brand from Hong Kong owned by Green Monday. 

Green Monday had previously partnered with a number of restaurant chains in China, including Taco Bell and Alibaba-owned retail chain Tmall. 

Starbucks is also adding new beverages featuring oat milk. The coffee giant is the second chain in China to serve oat drink from the Swedish brand Oatly.

 Oatly's famous vegan milk has been already served in Pacific Coffee - one of the biggest coffee chains in the country. 

Starbuck's plant-based menu launch highlights the increasing demand for more meat-free and dairy-free food especially in the wake of the latest pandemic that has led to serious concerns about health and food safety.