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The Spoon

Daily news and analysis about the food tech revolution

Beyond Burger

Beyond Q3 Earnings: The Company ‘Co-Created’ the McPlant, Will Launch Version 3.0 of Its Burger

Despite disappointing Q3 earnings that saw stocks slide yesterday, plant-based protein heavyweight Beyond made a number of noteworthy announcements on its investor call, including a new iteration of the Beyond Burger, expanded distribution, and involvement with McDonald’s recently announced McPlant product line. 

Beyond posted earnings below analysts’ expectations, reporting $94.4 million in revenues versus the expected $132.8 million. The company attributed slower sales in retail and foodservice brought on at least in part by the pandemic. However, Beyond CEO Ethan Brown said on the call that it was important “not to interpret this near-term pandemic induced drop in activity as a weakening in our long-term value proposition in this critically important space.” 

To that end Beyond made a few announcements on the call around forthcoming products and distribution channels. The biggest of these — or at least the one that grabbed the most headlines — is the company’s involvement with McDonald’s new line of plant-based meat products. Mickey D’s did not mention Beyond in its announcement yesterday. However, when asked about McPlant on its earnings call, Beyond’s Brown said, “Our relationship with McDonald’s is good.” After further confusion, Beyond made the following statement today: 

“Beyond Meat and McDonald’s co-created the plant-based patty which will be available as part of their McPlant platform.”

Why McDonald’s left Beyond out of its initial announcement is unclear. Also unclear is whether Beyond will be McDonald’s supplier for plant-based products going forward.

Less mysterious are Beyond’s plans for retail distribution. On this week’s call, the company announced the Beyond Burger will be available at 7,000 CVS locations in the U.S. in 2021. Beyond Meatballs, a newer entrant to the product portfolio, will be available at 5,000 CVS stores next year. The company also just announced a nationwide partnership with Pizza Hut and, overseas, has successfully trialed products at KFC locations in China. Q3 also saw the launch of Beyond’s direct-to-consumer e-commerce site, following a similar move by the company’s chief rival, Impossible.

Finally, Brown said his company will launch “Beyond Burger 3.0” (he did not provide a time frame) and that Beyond wants to make the current version of its burger “obsolete.” 

None of this was enough to keep Beyond’s stocks from dropping 8 percent after market close yesterday, though Brown again emphasized the long-term value of his company and mentioned the global opportunity for plant-based meats.

That opportunity is certainly huge. Recent numbers put alternative protein investment so far for 2020 well above $1 billion, with plant-based proteins grabbing the bulk of that sum. Part of this can be attributed to the pandemic. But as FAIRR pointed out when it reported the $1-billion-plus investment figure, the pandemic was just “the straw on the camel’s back.” Our reliance on traditional animal proteins was under scrutiny well before COVID-19, which suggests long-term demand for plant-based proteins even after the pandemic is under control.

Record case numbers suggest that day won’t arrive for a while. In the meantime, Beyond will need to boost its performance across both retail and food service in the coming months to keep a competitive edge in a very crowded plant-based meat market.

Sodexo Is Launching an Impossible Burger Menu at 1,500 U.S. Locations

Food and facilities management giant Sodexo announced today it will launch a new product line featuring the Impossible Burger at over 1,500 locations in the U.S.

According to a press release, the new product line will feature plant-based versions of “a sausage muffin sandwich, sausage gravy and biscuits, steakhouse burger and creole burger” that all use Impossible’s famous “bleeding burger” in place of real meat.

The new items will be available on August 19. While Sodexo didn’t specify where they would be served, the company supplies food and food services to about 13,000 locations in North America, including corporations, colleges and universities, government facilities.

While it’s a big move, it’s also not really surprising, given the seemingly endless stream of announcements coming out of the plant-based meat sector lately. The Sodexo news comes on the same day Impossible is expanding its now-famous Impossible Whopper at Burger King locations nationwide, and just days after the company announced a forthcoming launch at retail stores, which is slated for September.

Meanwhile, Impossible’s chief rival, Beyond, is busy striking deals left and right with QSRs and already has a strong retail presence.

With sales of plant-based meat booming, both Impossible and Beyond are aiming their products not at vegans and vegetarians but at so-called flexitarians, who want the taste and texture of real beef without the ethical and environmental issues that surround animal-based products. A move into settings like corporate cafeterias and university dining halls would provide even more exposure to this audience.

Will the Government Shutdown Spur Sales of Plant-Based Burgers?

If you are one of those who think that the government is too big or there is too much regulation, a quick perusal of the USDA’s Food Safety Inspection Service press releases from 2018 shows just how much work they do to keep what you eat safe — and also that a lot of meat was recalled last year.

But now food inspectors from the USDA (which is responsible for inspections of meat, poultry and eggs) and the FDA are working without pay. First, let’s appreciate that fact since most of us in the private sector probably would not do the same. And even though the Secretary of the USDA took to Twitter to reassure people:

the fact of the matter is that not paying your employees for an indeterminate amount of time probably won’t yield better performance.

This sounds mercenary, but the government shutdown and the news that food inspectors might be disgruntled (rightfully!) couldn’t have come at a better time for plant-based burger companies like Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods.

There are actually a number of factors converging at once that could make this a banner year for alterna-meat companies. First, sales of plant-based meats were already on an upswing: dollar sales of plant-based meat grew 23 percent from August 2017 to August 2018. A lot of this can be attributed to the fact that plant-based burgers taste better than ever, and are actually a decent substitute when it comes to the texture and feel of eating a burger. Our own Mike Wolf said he would give up meat burgers for the new Impossible burger, and all of us here at The Spoon can’t wait to try the new Beyond Meat Burger 2.0.

Despite all these advancements, 2018 was projected to be a record year for meat consumption in the U.S. But 2018 was also a year for numerous meat recalls, capping it all off with a raw beef recall that included twelve million pounds in December. Did that steady stream of recalls ultimately have an impact on what people purchased? Or are people just used to it now?

To be fair, one of the bigger recalls last year was for romaine lettuce, so it’s not like being plant-based is a magic wand that protects your product from foodborne illnesses.

While USDA food inspectors not getting paid probably isn’t top of mind for most people when they get groceries, every little bit of bad news contributes to an increasingly negative narrative about traditional beef. It’s bad for the environment, ethically complicated, gets recalled regularly, and now the people charged with keeping it safe aren’t getting paid.

I’m not cheering on a government shutdown (quite the opposite), but if it lasts and food safety issues stay in the headlines, it could be a boon for sales of plant-based alternatives. This potential boon would come at a time when Impossible is making the move to sell their burgers at retail and when Beyond Meat is preparing to go public. A successful IPO for Beyond will give them the money to expand their operations and pave the way for Impossible to IPO as well, which would fuel its own expansion.

We hope the shutdown ends soon and everyone can get paid, but until then we’ll be watching to see if it impacts the food choices people make.