The inevitable failure of American fake meat companies in China

The New York Times reports (porous paywall):

As an early sign of how Impossible Foods’ plant-based meat may fare in China, the placement of the company’s booth at the International Import Expo in Shanghai was not particularly auspicious.

Impossible Foods was relegated to the fringes of a cavernous convention center, surrounded by entrepreneurs with far less expansive ambitions than the transformation of the global meat industry. To one side of its booth in November was a company that sells sliding glass doors. Also nearby: a purveyor of Persian rugs.

I am going to make a prediction: China is mission impossible for Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat. These well-meaning American vegetarians will get eaten alive in China.

—Jeremy Goldkorn