(Bloomberg) -- Beyond Meat Inc. is headed somewhere it's never been before: supermarket shelves in mainland China.
The faux-meat maker will begin selling its plant-based burger in the frozen section of 50 Freshippo stores in Shanghai this weekend, Beyond said in a statement. Starting in September, it will expand to 48 more locations, in Beijing and Hangzhou, of the Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.-owned chain.
“Retail will be a critical part of our success in China,” Beyond Chief Executive Officer Ethan Brown said in the statement.
Beyond Meat shares jumped as much as 10% to $147.89 in at 9:39 a.m. in New York. It's the biggest one-day gain for the stock since June 8.
The supermarket partnership extends Beyond's reach into a large and potentially lucrative market after it made inroads in China with restaurant chains such as Starbucks Corp. and Yum China Holdings Inc. Beyond rival Impossible Foods Inc. also has stated ambitions to enter the country, which accounts for more than a quarter of global meat consumption.
With the global coronavirus pandemic disrupting the supply chain for beef and chicken, consumers have increasingly gravitated toward meat alternatives. Sales of plant-based meat products surged 264% in the U.S. in the early months of the lockdown.
While there are mounting concerns over pandemic-related troubles for the restaurant industry, Beyond Meat's shares have risen more than 75% so far this year.
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