Burnt

Beyond Meat serves up undercooked earnings as plant-based growth wilts

Friday, November 12, 2021 by Snacks
A little undercooked [Giuseppe Elio Cammarata via Getty Images]

A little undercooked [Giuseppe Elio Cammarata via Getty Images]

Pea protein takes an L… Plant-based-patty powerhouse Beyond Meat has lost some of its bite. While overall sales grew last quarter, Beyond’s US sales dropped 14% from last year — and its loss nearly tripled. Beyond blamed lower demand, plus production-related snags. It also gave a disappointing forecast for this quarter, citing pandemic uncertainty. Shares tumbled 13% yesterday, pulling Beyond’s market cap down to $5B from its 2019 high of $14B.

Beyond Beyond… Beyond is estimated to control about a quarter of the US alt-meat market, but plant-based competition is growing. Big Food companies may be an even bigger threat than smaller rivals, like Impossible Foods. Globally, Beyond sells in 122K stores while Impossible is in 20K — but Big Food companies like Tyson and Kraft are nearly everywhere.

  • Kroger saw a surge in sales of its plant-based meat brand Simple Foods last year, while food giants like Tyson, Hormel, and Kraft have launched their own alt-meat products.
  • Beyond and Impossible have lowered prices to compete with Big Food, which can afford to undercut smaller rivals.
  • Partnerships with chains like Starbucks and McDonald’s have helped Beyond and Impossible grow, but aren’t taking off as fast as expected.
THE TAKEAWAY

Novelty builds brands… but it doesn’t necessarily build loyalty. Restaurant partnerships helped make Beyond the most recognized plant-based brand. Dunkin dumped Beyond in June because of low Beyond Sausage sales. McDonald’s is serving the Beyond “McPlant” burger at only eight of its 14K locations. And KFC still hasn’t given Beyond Meat chicken nuggets a permanent spot on its menu. Impossible has also had a few partnership fails.

Subscribe to Snacks