Eat Just, a San Francisco-based food technology company specializing in plant-based egg alternatives, is pursuing expansion into the Chinese market, a region demonstrating increasing consumer interest in plant-based options and where other international vegan brands, such as Beyond Meat, have recently become available.

The company announced this week a supply agreement with Dicos, a major fast-food chain in China that competes with McDonald’s and KFC. This collaboration will integrate Eat Just’s plant-based eggs into breakfast offerings at over 500 Dicos restaurants. These eggs are created using mung beans, a legume already widely used in Chinese cuisine for soups, noodles, and desserts.

Customers at Dicos locations in key Chinese cities will be able to enjoy Eat Just eggs in breakfast burgers, bagel sandwiches, and traditional Western-style breakfast meals. This addition expands Dicos’ existing plant-based menu, which currently features a vegan chicken burger from domestic startup Starfield. Dicos’ extensive presence, with 2,600 stores and an annual customer base of 600 million, also provides access to lower-tier cities, potentially broadening the appeal of plant-based proteins beyond major urban centers.

Eat Just initially entered the Chinese market in 2019 and currently derives less than 5% of its total revenue from the country, according to Andrew Noyes, the company’s head of global communications, in a statement to TechCrunch. However, the company anticipates that China will eventually contribute to over half of its overall revenue. Currently, ten of the company’s 160 employees are located in China.

This partnership with Dicos follows Eat Just’s recent announcement of the establishment of a new Asia subsidiary. The company, previously known as Hampton Creek, has secured over $300 million in funding from notable investors, including Li Ka-Shing, Peter Thiel, Bill Gates, and Khosla Ventures, and is currently valued at $1.2 billion.

Prior to the Dicos agreement, Eat Just had already been selling its products online in China through platforms such as Alibaba and JD.com, alongside other retail channels. The company’s business in China is currently experiencing a year-over-year growth rate of 70%.

Despite the competitive landscape within China’s plant-based food sector, Eat Just believes it has differentiated itself by focusing specifically on egg alternatives.

“Plant-based meat products complement Just Egg exceptionally well,” Noyes pointed out, referring to the brand name of the company’s primary product.

“Plant-based foods are gaining traction among Chinese consumers, and more sustainable dietary choices are becoming an increasingly important part of the national conversation regarding the future of food production in the country. China currently produces approximately 435 billion eggs annually, and demand for protein continues to rise.”

According to a prediction by Euromonitor, China’s “free from meat” market is projected to reach $12 billion by 2023, an increase from $10 billion in 2018, demonstrating the country’s status as the world’s largest consumer of meat.