January 6, 2021
China fast-food chain adds plant-based JUST Egg to menu
Alternative protein producer Eat Just, Inc. announced January 5 that Dicos, one of China's leading fast-food chains, added plant-based JUST Egg to its menu at over 500 locations.
The announcement marks the first time a major quick service restaurant has swapped an animal-based product with a plant-based one across multiple regular menu offerings.
Dicos stores in Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou as well as in Liaoning and Shandong provinces will introduce JUST Egg in three breakfast burgers, three bagel sandwiches and a "western" breakfast plate.
To mark JUST Egg's launch, the companies will leverage Weibo and WeChat in addition to Douyin and Kuaishou video-sharing platforms to build awareness and drive consumer trial through a series of breakfast "unboxing" videos featuring technology-oriented key opinion leaders.
"The introduction of JUST Egg at Dicos is a product and brand upgrade based on consumers' increasing interest in nutrition, healthier diets and environmental awareness. Adding JUST Egg to our core breakfast menu offerings will allow customers to experience JUST Egg in a variety of ways. We look forward to seeing the consumer response and will plan future menu offerings around it," says Dicos chief marketing officer Xie Yahui.
"We've witnessed the excitement consumers in China have for JUST Egg, all driven by a generational move to healthier, more sustainable foods. We're grateful to partner with Dicos on this global plant-based protein milestone," says Eat Just co-founder and CEO Josh Tetrick.
JUST Egg has been available in China since 2019 on popular e-commerce platforms like Alibaba-owned Tmall and JD.com, with year-over-year growth of 70%. The product has also been sold in select brick-and-mortar retail and foodservice locations. In October, Eat Just announced a partnership with a consortium led by Proterra Investment Partners Asia Pte. Ltd., an investment management firm focused on the food and agribusiness sectors, to build and operate a plant protein production facility in Singapore to meet demand for JUST Egg products across Asia.
