![]() ![]() “Frozen plant-based chicken is the largest single subcategory in all of plant-based meats and continues to grow at a double-digit pace,” he said. Brown noted that it was expanding distribution for many of its frozen products. While the company hoped to restore growth to its refrigerated products, which have some of the highest profit margins, Mr. Beyond Meat declined to comment for this article beyond the call with analysts. As a result, “a shakeout does appear to be underway, and we expect more brands to either retreat or consolidate,” Mr. In a call with Wall Street analysts in early November, Ethan Brown, the founder and chief executive of Beyond Meat, said an increasing number of plant-based meat players were battling for a smaller group of consumers as shoppers traded down to less-expensive animal proteins. “We launched in frozen more recently with a larger family size, and it’s been very popular with both retailers and consumers,” Ms. The IRI data show that while volume sales of Impossible ground meat and faux burger patties were down slightly, volumes of other categories, including frozen faux meat and chicken, soared. “Quite the opposite: We’re seeing hypergrowth, with over 60 percent year-over-year dollar sales growth in retail alone.” “We’re not experiencing anything like what Beyond Meat has reported or some of the other brands in the space,” Keely Sulprizio, a spokeswoman for Impossible Foods, said in an email. On a call with Wall Street analysts in August, Kellogg’s chief executive, Steven Cahillane, attributed the drop to supply-chain issues with a co-manufacturer of the products.īut privately held Impossible Foods said demand for its products grew tremendously last year. And volume sales for the vegetarian-meat maker Morningstar Farms, which Kellogg has said it plans to spin off or potentially sell, dropped sharply in nearly every category this year, according to the IRI data. In October, the Brazilian meatpacking giant JBS said it was closing Planterra Foods, its plant-based meat operation, after just two years. Moreover, while some plant-based meat manufacturers are struggling, others are seeing rising sales. In August, when the Cracker Barrel restaurant chain stated on its Facebook page that it had begun offering the meatless “Impossible Sausage,” the post was flooded with thousands of comments from irate customers. (The companies focus on the environmental benefits.) But the Deloitte analysts said another problem might be resistance to a product that some segment of customers see as “woke” and linked to politically left-leaning ideas. While inflation played a role, so did a decline in the perception that plant-based meats are healthier than animal proteins. consumer products research leader at Deloitte. “The category had been growing at double-digit for a long time and was expected to continue, but what we saw this year is that the number of consumers who were buying it did not increase,” said Justin Cook, the U.S. What investors and others are debating now is whether Beyond Meat’s struggles are specific to the company or a harbinger of deeper issues in the plant-based meat industry.Īnalysts at Deloitte, who conducted a survey of consumers this year, questioned whether the 53 percent who were not buying plant-based meats could be turned into customers. And four top executives have departed in recent months, including the chief financial officer, the chief supply chain officer and the chief operating officer, whom Beyond Meat had suspended after his arrest on allegations that he bit another man’s nose in a parking garage altercation. In late October, the company said it was laying off 200 people, or 19 percent of its work force. McDonald’s concluded a pilot of the McPlant burger - made with a Beyond Meat patty - this year with no plans to put it on the menu permanently. Sales, which the company had expected to rise as much as 33 percent this year, are now likely to show only minor growth. Its stock has slumped nearly 83 percent in the past year. During the pandemic, Beyond Meat’s grocery store sales surged as curious consumers tried its vegan options.īut these days, Beyond Meat has lost some of its sizzle. When the company went public in 2019, its shares skyrocketed as investors bet that the meatless movement was finally having its moment. Its faux burgers and sausages were landing on dinner plates in homes throughout the United States and on the menu boards of chains like Subway, Carl’s Jr. For a while, it seemed Beyond Meat was taking over the world.
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