UNLIMEAT pulled pork wrap launches at Starbucks Hong Kong

© UNLIMEAT/Starbucks Hong Kong

Food Service

UNLIMEAT Pulled Pork Wrap Launches at Starbucks Hong Kong

Korean plant-based meat brand UNLIMEAT has joined forces with Starbucks Hong Kong to offer a plant-based pulled pork wrap. The wrap combines UNLIMEAT’s pork alternative with carrot, red cabbage, and lettuce to create a “satisfying and guilt-free meal”. UNLIMEAT first entered the Hong Kong market in 2020, and has since secured several major collaborations in the region. IKEA Hong Kong launched an Earth Day Menu featuring the brand’s meat alternatives in 2022, and convenience store chain 7-Eleven has introduced two products made with UNLIMEAT’s signature Korean BBQ. “We have been dreaming of launching something at Starbucks ever since we launched our first products in Hong Kong,” said UNLIMEAT CEO Keumchae Min. “Our pulled pork has been our most popular product in the United States, so …

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Starbucks Korea launches alt meat range

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Food Service

Starbucks South Korea Launches Alt Meat Dishes, Sells Over 100,000 in Two Weeks

At the beginning of the month, Starbucks Korea introduced three new menu options containing plant-based meat. Now, the chain has revealed that over 100,000 products from the range have been sold in just two weeks. The meat alternatives themselves are fully plant-based, made by Shinsegae Foods’ Better Meat. However, some of the menu options containing them also appear to include dairy or eggs, so vegans and those with allergies should exercise caution. The new dishes are: Plant-based meatball soup Plant-based meat and egg foccacia Plant-based meatball and cheese sandwich. Expanding menu choices Starbucks Korea launched its first plant-based menu in 2021 in an attempt to become more sustainable. The menu featured four items — chocolate fudge cake, potato bagels, Mexican-style rice burritos, and sweet chili …

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JUST Egg Starbucks Bites

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Gastronomy & Food Service

Starbucks USA Trials New Plant-Based Menu With JUST Egg and Daring Chicken

Starbucks USA is now testing 18 new menu items at several stores, including six all-vegan savory and dessert options. The new selection includes sous vide bites made with JUST Egg and Daring plant chicken, reports VegNews. The limited-time menu is currently available at three Starbucks stores in the DC Metro area and includes: Plant-Based Chicken Sausage and Pepper Sous-Vide Bite (Daring jalapeño chicken sausage and JUST Egg) Plant-Based Smoky Poblano & Black Bean Sous-Vide Bite (JUST Egg base with black beans, lime zest, sweet corn, roasted poblano peppers, and smoky chipotle chili)  Plant-Based Chicken Sausage & Pepper Sandwich Mini (A sandwich version of its test chicken sausage bite) The chain is also testing several new sweets:  Golden Ginger Coconut Boba Bite (Inspired by Taiwanese boba …

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Gastronomy & Food Service

Mexican QSR Giant Alsea Signs New Plant-Based Partnership with NotCo 

Alsea, the Mexican multi-brand restaurant giant, has entered into a new partnership with NotCo to provide plant-based products across its outlets. Including Starbucks, Domino’s Pizza, Burger King, and TGI Friday’s among its operations across Mexico, Europe, and South America, Alsea becomes the latest partner of leading plant-based food tech NotCo.  Alsea has stated that the strategy was carried out with the aim of providing consumers with more dining options, especially given the growing number of people opting for plant-based products. NotBurger, NotChicken, and NotMilk will be the first products to be launched in August, all produced with NotCo’s AI algorithm that replicates animal products using only plants.  In a recent interview with vegconomist, NotCo CEO Matías Muchnick revealed the company’s plans to: “Continue expanding and …

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Better Meat Cold Cut Ham Sandwiches

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Company News

Korea’s Shinsegae Foods Reveals Plans for $10M US Plant-Based Meat Subsidiary

Shinsegae Foods, the food business arm of South Korean retail giant Shinsegae Group, announces plans to create Better Foods, Inc., a wholly owned US subsidiary for plant-based meats. The news comes a year after the company released Better Meat, an alt-meat product line, in Starbucks stores throughout Korea.  Boosting competitiveness To establish the US-based Better Foods, Shinsegae states it will spend $6M on setting up the subsidiary by next month, with an additional $4M allocated for the first half of 2023. Intended to boost Shinsegae’s competitiveness in the meat alternatives market, the US operations will support R&D and global expansion of Better Meat, which currently produces cold-cut sliced ham and meatball products.   After debuting Better Meat in Korea in 2021, the company partnered with Starbucks Korea …

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Starbucks Japan vegan options

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Food Service

Starbucks Japan Launches Five New Vegan Options

Starbucks Japan has introduced a range of new plant-based products as part of the chain’s initiative to reduce carbon emissions worldwide. The new menu items are: Tomato and Soy Ball Brick-Oven Filone — a meatball baguette with vegan cheese and Pomodoro sauce. Spinach, Corn, and Soy Patty English Muffin — spiced patties with spinach corn cream and maple mustard, served in a wholegrain English muffin. Shaken Meal Soy Bolognese — vegetables, beans, vegan cheese, soy bolognese sauce, and tomato dressing, layered in a cup that can be shaken up. Almond Milk Matcha Mousse Cake — matcha mousse with red beans, on a graham cracker crust with matcha and almond milk whipped cream. The matcha used in the dessert is grown using compost made from recycled …

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Imagine meats

©Imagine Meats

Products & Launches

Starbucks Signs Partnership Deal with Indian Plant-Based Brand Imagine Meats 

Coffee chain Tata Starbucks has announced a new partnership with plant-based producer Imagine Meats to improve its vegan food options in India. Imagine Meats is the brainchild of two of Bollywood’s biggest stars, with the Starbucks deal set to cater for the growth of the Indian vegan population.  Founded by Bollywood celebrities Ritesh and Genelia Deshmukh, Imagine Meats is also backed by global food producer ADM, and under the partnership, Starbucks will introduce Imagine Meats’ vegan sausage croissant rolls, vegan hummus kebab wraps, and other vegan products to menus across India.  With Starbucks expanding its vegan menu globally as part of its plans to reduce its carbon footprint by 50%, the global coffee chain has partnered with alt meat leader Beyond Meat in key markets …

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James Cromwell Starbucks Protest NYC

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Society

James Cromwell’s Starbucks Protest Sparks Global Conversation on Chain’s Plant-Based Milk Fees

In a widely publicized event, actor James Cromwell protested Starbucks on May 10 by supergluing his hand to a counter in one of the coffee chain’s NYC stores. Wearing an animal rights T-shirt, Cromwell and other activists demanded Starbucks end its long-standing practice of charging extra for plant-based milk options. The PETA-organized demonstration received worldwide media coverage, and provoked lively social media conversations about the fairness of Stabucks’ extra fees for non-dairy milk. The protest marks an escalation in pressure tactics by PETA, which has actively campaigned against Starbucks’ vegan milk policies in recent years. In April, music icon and PETA supporter Sir Paul McCartney wrote an open letter urging former Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson to drop the dairy-free surcharge at the company’s US locations. …

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NotMilk at Starbucks Colombia

Image: Matias Muchnick on LinkedIn

Food Service

NotMilk Launches at All Starbucks Colombia Locations

Chilean plant-based brand NotCo has launched its milk alternative, NotMilk, at Starbucks Colombia. The plant-based milk will be available at all the coffee chain’s locations in the country. NotCo CEO Matias Muchnick said the launch was “fulfilling”, given that Colombia is often considered the coffee capital of the world. It follows on from the brand’s previous launch in the US, including at the Northeast’s largest food retailer Stop & Shop. Milk made with artificial intelligence NotMilk differs from other alt-milk brands because a proprietary artificial intelligence technology has been used to find the best plant-based replacements for milk proteins. According to the company, this means that NotMilk replicates conventional milk more closely than other alt-dairy products on the market. Last year, NotCo’s technology won it …

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Starbucks Hong Kong

© Starbucks Hong Kong

Food Service

Starbucks Hong Kong Launches Plant-Based Menu in Collaboration With Oatly and Impossible Foods

Starbucks Hong Kong is to offer a limited-edition gourmet plant-based menu created by celebrity chef Christian Yang. The menu features three savoury options and two desserts, made with ingredients from Oatly and Impossible Foods. The new dishes are: OATLY X Impossible™ Beef Teriyaki Pocket. Impossible™ Pork Greek Style Puff. Impossible™ Beef & Potato Wrap. OATLY Triple Chocolate Éclair. OATLY Mango Earl Grey Mousse. Starbucks is also launching the Strawberry Mango Jelly Starbucks M:lk Cream™ Oolong, featuring a tea base with strawberry sauce and mango jelly chunks. The drink has a cap made with oat milk and whipped rice cream. Starbucks in Asia Starbucks is rapidly expanding its plant-based offerings in the Asia-Pacific region, recently launching its first ever vegan yogurt drink in Korea. In November, …

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Starbucks launches vegan yogurt drink in Korea

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Beverages

Starbucks Launches Its First Ever Vegan Yogurt Drink in Korea

Coffee chain Starbucks has launched a vegan yogurt drink in Korea. Called “Pine Coco Green Yogurt Blended”, the launch marks the first time anywhere in the world that Starbucks has used plant-based yogurt in a beverage. The chain has recently been working to increase the plant-based range at its 1,500 Korean locations. Another new launch is the Tofu Tender Salad, featuring plant-based chicken pieces made with soy, chickpeas, and quinoa. Additionally, Starbucks Korea has launched a new vegan dessert, the Rich Ganache Cake. The thick chocolate cake is layered with plant-based ganache cream, dark chocolate, and pecans. Previous plant-based launches by the chain have included vegan grilled onion focaccia, autumnal layer cake, and banana-pecan pound cake. Plant-based in Korea Plant-based diets are beginning to take …

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Starbucks USA

©Starbucks

Products & Launches

Starbucks Continues to Expand Dairy-Free Range with Oatmilk Frappuccino Launches

Coffee giant Starbucks has announced the launch of its first bottled dairy-free Frappuccinos. The new ready-to-drink Starbucks Frapuccino with Oatmilk beverages will be available in Caramel Waffle Cookie and Dark Chocolate Brownie flavors exclusive to the plant-based variety.  The new products are expected to hit retailers, including grocery stores, convenience stores, and gas stations over 2022.  2021 saw Starbucks up its vegan game, with new plant-based collaborations launched in Hong Kong, Indonesia, and the Middle East, while more vegan menu options were announced in the US. Starbucks customers also saw a new line of non-dairy iced shaken espresso and the nationwide US launch of Oatly milk in stores.  

Thai Style New Crab Cake Salad OmniFoods

© OmniFoods

Products & Launches

Starbucks Hong Kong Launches OmniFoods Omni Crabcake

Starbucks Hong Kong announces it is to launch OmniSeafood’s plant-based crabcake to its menu, marking the third partnership between OmniFoods and the world’s largest coffee chain, which has been carrying OmniPork in China since April 2020. OmniFoods first launched its range of OmniSeafood this June, consisting of Omni Classic Fillet, Omni Golden Fillet, Omni Ocean Burger, OmniTuna and  OmniSalmon. Further to the previous collaborations with Starbucks in the Philippines and Mainland China, Starbucks Hong Kong will now offer the Thai Style New Crab Cake Salad, incorporating Omni Crab Cake, served with mixed lettuce, pumpkin, tomato and fresh pomelo pulp. The OmniPork based products BBQ Mochi Bun, Mince Roll and Classic Lasagna are available at Starbucks Philippines; The GG Double Flavoured Wrap is served in Starbucks …

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Oatly

©Oatly

Market & Trends

Oatly Posts Q2 Results, Forecasting 64% Annual Revenue Increase

News of Oatly’s recent court loss to Glebe Farm may quickly be forgotten by the oat milk giant, as the Swedish company posted Q2 revenue of $146.2 million, a 53.3% increase compared to the year prior. Oatly also forecasts a further 64% increase in its annual revenue as the plant-based milk craze shows no signs of stopping.  With rising demand for plant-based milk at restaurants and coffee chains such as Starbucks – with which Oatly has brand partnership and nationwide distribution – the alt dairy boom is expected to continue growing. The success of the Starbucks partnership is clear to see, with the coffee chain accounting for a remarkable 27% of Q2 sales. Oatly also reported restaurant sales are now recovering from the pandemic-driven fall …

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Green Butcher Burger

©Green Butcher Foods

Investments & Finance

Green Butcher: Indonesia’s First Plant-Based Meat Producer Finalises Seed Round Investment  

Leading alternative protein venture capital firm Unovis Asset Management has announced the closing of its investment in Indonesia-based startup, Green Butcher. Located in Jakarta, the company claims to be the first plant-based meat producer in the Southeast Asian country, developing chicken and beef alternatives using natural, whole-food ingredients. 

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reen Butcher x Starbucks - ALL menu

Image supplied by Green Butcher

Gastronomy & Food Service

Starbucks Indonesia Launches Plant-Based Menu Created By Green Butcher

Green Butcher, an Indonesian plant-based meat startup focused on Asian flavours, announces the closure of its seed round led by Unovis for an undisclosed amount, as well as the debut of a range of its products at 50 Starbucks outlets. Together, the two companies have developed alternative meal options featuring Green Butcher’s plant-based meat alternatives.

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