On Beyond Meat, Plant-Based and Other Alternatives

Last week, as Beyond Meat announced 1) lower than expected quarterly results, 2) a 4% staff layoff and 3) reduced guidance, CEO Ethan Brown said,

• “We recognize progress is taking longer than we expected ...

• "We [will] actualize our vision: providing consumers with plant-based meats that are indistinguishable from, understood as healthier than, and at price parity with their animal protein equivalents."

• Separately, Cornell and Johns Hopkins University researchers said:

• “A reduced carbon footprint and increased food system resource-use efficiency are reasons alternative proteins could ... promote more-sustainable food systems …

• "Still, plant-based alternatives to beef are not silver bullets … with their impact on other environmental dimensions of the food system – such as total water use – ambiguous.

• “Nevertheless, a range of plant-based alternatives to animal products are under development ... If these are adopted widely" they could negatively impact agricultural jobs.

• Finally, Dan Blaustin-Rejto, director of food and agriculture - Breakthrough Institute, said:

• “Plant-based meat sales grew faster than anyone could have imagined over the past few years.

• “There’s relatively little evidence that plant-based meat alternatives are currently displacing conventional meat …

• “It seems that it’s people who aren’t eating much meat who are turning to these products.”

OUR TAKE
 

• Demand drivers for plant-based alternatives include addressing environmental, health and animal welfare concerns. However, 1) the ultra-processed nature of some products may mitigate their potential benefits and 2) the use of regenerative farming techniques may address issues within the meat production industry.

• Factors challenging Beyond Meat include: 1) the introduction of plant-based offerings from established players, 2) competition from cell-based meat and fungi-based innovators, and 3) price and taste considerations by consumers.

• As global environmental conditions become increasingly variable, more agricultural alternatives (indoor, vertical, sea-based, CRISPR, etc.) will be needed to: 1) increase year-round production, 2) reduce traditional food production variability, 3) minimize water requirements and 4) bring abandoned and underutilized properties into production.