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The Spoon

Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

alterative meat

Beyond Meat Now Sells Directly to Consumers

Beyond Meat announced today that it has launched a new e-commerce site that allows consumers to buy the company’s plant-based beef and sausage products directly from the company.

The store is open to people in the contiguous U.S., and features two-day shipping for all orders. From the press announcement, items sold on the site include:

  • Burgers & Beef Combo Pack – A carton of 10 Beyond Burger patties and two 1lb. packages of Beyond Beef ($54.99)
  • Brats & Beef Combo Pack – A carton of 10 Beyond Sausage Original Brat links and two 1lb. packages of Beyond Beef ($59.99)
  • Beef Bulk Pack – Six 1lb. packages of Beyond Beef ($71.99)
  • Breakfast Sausage Variety Pack – One 22-count carton of Classic Beyond Breakfast Sausage and one 22-count carton of Spicy Beyond Breakfast Sausage ($54.99)
  • Go Beyond Trial Pack – One package of Beyond Burgers (two 4oz patties), one package of Beyond Beef (1lb.), one package of Beyond Sausage Original Brat (four links) and one package of Classic Beyond Breakfast Sausage (six patties) ($49.99) 

Beyond mentioned the new D2C channel in June, when it launched bulk packaging of its burgers, so today’s news is not surprising. Nor is it surprising in the broader, competitive context of the plant-based meat sector. Earlier this summer, Beyond’s big rival, Impossible Foods launched its own D2C channel through which it sells its own plant-based burgers in bulk.

The timing is right for both of these companies to go directly to consumers. Sales of plant-based meat have taken off during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has highlighted inequities and inefficiencies in our traditional meat supply chain. The pandemic has also pushed people into record levels of grocery e-commerce, so buying something like plant-based meat online no longer seems like a foreign concept for many.

In addition to this D2C rivalry, it has been an incredible active summer in for both Beyond and Impossible overall. Beyond Meat has done multiple deals with restaurant chains in China, and launched a second plant-based chicken pilot with KFC in California. For its part, Impossible has raised $200 million, vastly expanded its U.S. retail presence and launched its plant-based sausage in earnest to restaurants around the country.

While summer was certainly a hot time for plant-based meats, don’t expect things to cool off in the sector any time soon. Both companies are expanding their product lines and will continue to expand their retail footprints.

Companies are Developing Plant-Based Turkey Options for the Center of the Thanksgiving Table

If you’re hosting Thanksgiving, odds are at least one of your guests (or maybe even you!) doesn’t eat meat. That means you have to find something to stand in for the holiday’s traditional piece de resistance: the turkey.

Of course you could just have your meat-free guests make a meal from sides (my personal preference). Or you could also try to make a stand-in protein with one of the plant-based substitutes on the market.

When it comes to meatless turkey offerings, Tofurky is, unsurprisingly, the first name that comes to mind. The company has been making its portmanteau tofu turkey for 25 years. However, if you’ve ever tried a tofurky, you know that, while tasty, it doesn’t for a moment fool you into thinking you’re eating the real bird.

Tofurky would tell you that that’s the point; their products are made for vegetarians and aren’t trying to fool anyone into thinking they’re meat. But for the growing number of flexitarians out there, there’s a market for a more realistic turkey alternative.

Protein companies are trying to fill that need. Impossible Foods has stated that it’s developing its own plant-based turkey product. Big Turkey is also entering the race. According to Reuters, Butterball, Perdue and Tyson are all developing vegetarian turkey options, though none have committed to a timeline for release.

It’ll probably be a while yet before we see a whole plant-based bird on grocery shelves. Unlike burgers or chicken nuggets, which are one type of “meat,” turkeys are structurally complex and have different cuts of meat — plus bones — to deal with. It’s more likely that we’d first see a plant-based turkey breast or drumstick first before someone comes out with the whole bird.

Most of us only eat turkey on the third Thursday of November, so there’s not really a huge market for realistic plant-based turkey year-round. That could mean that it’s relatively low on the R&D totem pole for alternative protein companies. Nonetheless, I wouldn’t be surprised that if by next year there’s an Impossible Turkey Leg or Tyson Turkey Breast offering available in your supermarket.

For now, though, vegeterians and flexitarians can get their plant-based turkey fix with Quorn’s Turk’y Roast, Gardein’s Holiday Roast, or Field Roast’s Celebration Roast. Or just stick with the classic: Tofurky.