Starbucks brings its alt-milk and alt-meat stars on China tour: To Oatly and Beyond
They're soooo alternative... Starbucks' thought process when it picked Oatly and Beyond Meat from the "influencer friends to bring on China trip" list. Now that 95% of Starbucks' China locations are re-opened, Starbucks decided to lure customers back in with some plant-based menu surprises. Enter Starbucks’ alt-crew: alt-milk superstar Oatly and alt-meat icon Beyond Meat...
- 4.3K Chinese Starbucks locations are now serving Oatly vegan-friendly matcha oat milk lattes and Beyond beef lasagna.
- Starbucks wants to capitalize on shifting nutritional preferences in China's giant consumer market, which has increasingly been moving toward "healthier" options.
The trip of a lifetime... China is the world's 2nd largest economy, and Beyond Meat and Oatly have been wanting to roll up for while:
- Oatly: It's the Swedish, pleasingly-packaged oat milk brand that artisanal coffee shops run on. But almost all its sales come from Europe and the US — Asia is a big opportunity.
- Beyond: Meat is a major staple of the Chinese diet — Beyond wants to be the major alt-staple. And its CEO committed to being there this year.
This is middleman marketing... Beyond could've made its big China debut in grocery stores. That would've given them better control of their profit margins and China marketing — but it would also have meant massive spend to get noticed in a new market. Starbucks already boasts 4,300 stores in China — now it's Beyond and Oatly's chaperone that can weave new behaviors into existing habits of its Chinese customers.