Canadian Plant-Based ‘Amazon’ PlantX Expands Its Vegan E-Commerce Platform To U.S.

PlantX, the Canadian plant-based e-commerce platform described as a vegan version of online retail giant Amazon, has entered the U.S. market. Launching earlier this month, customers in the U.S. will now be able to browse through more than 10,000 plant-based products featured on the store, and has also decided to open up a physical brick-and-mortar flagship in San Diego to further bolster its retail presence in the country.

The Vancouver-based online retail store for everything plant-based, PlantX, has entered the U.S. market for the first time to offer its pre-made vegan ready meals and indoor plant deliveries to customers in the country. Currently, there are over 10,000 products available on the digital platform, but PlantX says that it is expanding its product lines to bring consumers animal-free products in categories such as clothing and cosmetics. Commenting on the expansion, PlantX CEO Julia Frank said: “We love to see our newly launched U.S. e-commerce platform expand like its predecessor PlantX.ca. We firmly believe that our U.S. plant vertical will generate massive revenue and growth.”

In addition to launching its online store in the U.S., PlantX is planning to double down its retail footprint in the country with the opening of a flagship store in San Diego. The store, called Liv Marketplace, is set to open in the coming months, and PlantX says it will bring this franchise to more locations across North America to meet demand.

We love to see our newly launched U.S. e-commerce platform expand like its predecessor PlantX.ca. We firmly believe that our U.S. plant vertical will generate massive revenue and growth. Julia Frank, CEO, PlantX

PlantX has additionally partnered with House Plant Shop as part of its U.S. expansion, a company selling over 200 variants of plant-related products such as pots, gardening tools, seeds, accessories and decorations. “As House Plant Shop adds more products to its lineup, they will be added to the PlantX marketplace,” said the company in a statement. “Today, House Plant Shop supplies several large e-commerce companies, with PlantX being the latest to source its products for the Company’s online platform and its eventual brick and mortar location.”  

Today, House Plant Shop supplies several large e-commerce companies, with PlantX being the latest to source its products for the Company’s online platform and its eventual brick and mortar location. PlantX

The introduction of PlantX into the U.S. market comes as consumers in the country have been increasingly turning to plant-based alternatives. The trend has been set off by a chain of events amid the coronavirus pandemic, especially in the U.S. where the worst slaughterhouse outbreaks have been recorded, raising alarm bells over the safety of meat and the industry’s vulnerable supply chain. Other stores that have expanded their operations in the U.S. since the pandemic include VEDGEco, a Hawaii-based 100% vegan bulk wholesale shop dubbed as the plant-based version of Costco. Since August, the company, which stocks many of the popular plant-based brands including Beyond Meat, Impossible Foods, Tofurky and Daiya on its platform, has increased its delivery coverage to all states nationwide. The plant-based shift is consistent across the world, with surveys conducted in the U.K. and Hong Kong both recording high levels of consumer interest in lowering animal-based meeat consumption as a result of the coronavirus, triggering what the United Nations has called the biggest global drop in meat intake seen in decades.