Planted

Beyond Meat jumps on a juicy Walmart win: it passed "the mainstream test"

Wednesday, September 30, 2020 by Snacks
_A burger so mainstream, it's everyone's Halloween costume_

A burger so mainstream, it's everyone's Halloween costume

Snagged some prime real estate... next to prime rib. Beyond Meat just secured a whole lot more space for its plant-based patties in the fresh meat aisle. Beyond stock jumped 9% after the company announced it's expanding to 1.6K more Walmart locations. Ever since its Walmart debut in 2015, Beyond has grown its patty and sausage presence in the retailer's fresh and frozen aisles. Now, it's surpassing plant-based rival Impossible:

  • 5,300: The number of Walmart stores in the US, including Sam's Club.
  • 2,100: The number of Walmart stores that sell Impossible meat.
  • 2,400: The number of Walmart stores that will sell Beyond meat, up from just 800 before this deal.

Well done on the price cutting... That's how Beyond likes its goals cooked (don't settle for medium-rare). Beyond wants to “make plant-based meat accessible to all." But then it realized that its plant meat costs 2X as much as regular beef.

  • With the meat shortage we saw early on in COVID, Beyond aggressively tried to narrow the big price gap to get in on the action. Enter...
  • “The Cookout Classic”: Beyond's 1st semi-hoardable, relatively affordable offering. Think: a 10-pack of patties at $6.50/pound vs. a 2-pack at $12/pound.
  • Heating up: If Beyond and Impossible start competing on price at Walmart, we can expect the "real meat" difference to narrow even further.
THE TAKEAWAY

Beyond is passing the mainstream test... Beyond's real goal is to get most meat-eaters eating its pea protein patties. Early adopters were vegans and vegetarians, but this Walmart deal proves it has expanded beyond that. Walmart is the keystone of accessibility and mainstream-ness in America. Read between the grill lines: Beyond must be performing well with shoppers if Walmart decided to triple the number of stores that offer it.

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