32 INGREDIENTS New Seafood, which includes fish fillet, tuna, and fish burger, form the basic plant-based meat products. The OmniEat series, which covers a variety of local dishes, is the largest innovation vehicle for product innovation and localisation. Localisation efforts can be seen even in the basic products: OmniPork Ground, for example, is available exclusively for the UK and US markets. The shredded meat product, for example, is named Omni Strips in the US, UK and Australia, and is accompanied by a burger image on its packaging, while in the other <strong>Asia</strong>n markets it is named Omni Strip and uses the picture of an <strong>Asia</strong>n dish, even though the same ingredients and technologies are used. OmniPork has four sets of brand names, OmniMeat and OmniPork, which are further divided into OmniPork(Meat) and OmniPork(Meat) Mince. This strategy of omitting or detailing the specifics of the products shows the consideration of the composition of consumer groups, cultures, and corresponding regulations in the local markets. Meanwhile, Qishan <strong>Food</strong>s has been operating in overseas markets for the past 30 years, setting up offices in more than 30 countries. Unlike Omni<strong>Food</strong>s' inclusive vision and relatively concentrating product matrix, Qishan <strong>Food</strong>s, as a food manufacturer, focuses on <strong>Asia</strong>n cuisine and has a more diverse and decentralised product portfolio, favouring <strong>Asia</strong>n-inspired mock meat products. With more than 500 products, Qishan is expanding at a rate of 50 product tests and five products launched every year. Qishan <strong>Food</strong>s' overall strategy is to quickly fill in emerging markets through agile product development. In recent years, Qishan <strong>Food</strong>s has also rolled out products such as burgers, to compete with international manufacturers including Beyond Meats and Impossible <strong>Food</strong>s in the Chinese market. Qishan has also taken some attempts to localise its products sold overseas, including using Western ingredients such as rosemary and onions to replace the herbal ingredients in some locally sold products. However, the image of Qishan <strong>Food</strong>s in China and overseas markets has always been that of traditional <strong>Asia</strong>n cuisine, This is in stark contrast to the positioning of Omni<strong>Food</strong>s, which uses different product names and brands in each market, but the underlying technology, ingredients, and ingredients do not differ. The difference is also reflected in channel cooperation. Omni<strong>Food</strong>s is rapidly expanding through Western fast-food brands in markets such as the UK and Australia, and in its entry into the US, it has also announced partnerships with local retailers to expand its product offerings. Qishan <strong>Food</strong>s' overseas target consumers were mainly Chinese 12 , focusing on Chinese restaurants and supermarket retails, with no major marketing efforts. Zhou Qiyu, senior marketing manager of Qishan <strong>Food</strong>s, expressed the company's strong desire to become an international brand, stating that overseas sales currently account for 8% of overall results and that it has already set up a dedicated team to drive overseas growth 13 . CONCLUSION In an increasingly competitive yet exploratory Chinese market, China's emerging brands still face a lengthy consumer education effort and the challenge of navigating their way to success. The growing battle has seen the emergence of more sophisticated product formats and marketing strategies, including a variety of vegetarian snacks, as well as competitive strategies such as Z-Rou's groundbreaking community marketing and entry into school tables to cultivate future customers. For China's local emerging plant-based meat brands, it is difficult to invest a lot of energy and time in the promotion and exploration of the Chinese market at this stage to obtain predictable returns. Omni<strong>Food</strong>s and Qishan <strong>Food</strong>s have already provided two different approaches to going overseas. If more local Chinese small and medium-sized plant-based meat brands can combine their selling points, either flavour or cultural, and integrate the diverse competitive strategies practised in the Chinese market, instead of running blindly in the Chinese market, they may find a way out overseas. FBA REFERENCE 1 https://www.greenqueen.com.hk/beyondmeat-first-foreign-plant-based-company-todevelop-production-facility-in-china/ 2 cnn/2021/0322/60581b a52d621.pdf 3 https://edition.cnn.com/travel/article/chinafake-meat-vegetarian-intl-hnk/index.html 4 https://www.ft.com/content/b99e7164-fa50- 11e9-a354-36acbbb0d9b6 5 http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/ 00141844.2015.1084016. 6 https://www.ft.com/content/b99e7164-fa50- 11e9-a354-36acbbb0d9b6 7 https://time.com/5930095/china-plant-basedmeat/ 8 https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/ resources/CA4076EN.pdf 9 https://medium.com/marketing-right-now/beyondmeat-expanded-into-china-56cb3b2b5f83 10 https://www.ft.com/content/996330d5-5ffc- 4f35-b5f8-a18848433966 11 1 -10-21/beyond-the-burger-chicken-fish-andpork-are-now-made-from-plants 12 https://www.businesswire.com/news/ home/20210825005703/en/Omni<strong>Food</strong>s-Launch- at-Sprouts-Farmers-Market-and-Select-Whole- <strong>Food</strong>s-Market-Stores 13 https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/healthwellness/article/3007425/chinas-plant-basedalternatives-take-beyond-meat FOOD & BEVERAGE ASIA APRIL / MAY <strong>2022</strong>
INGREDIENTS 33 FOOD & BEVERAGE ASIA APRIL / MAY <strong>2022</strong>
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