Beyond Meat has created a plant-based substitute for meat. In 2018, it received the Champions of the Earth award from the United Nations. In addition, the brand has secured the support of prominent celebrities and investors, including Kleiner Perkins, Evan Williams, Leonardo DiCaprio and Don Thompson. Learn more about Los Angeles’ top-rated coworking spaces here. Read more on losangeles1.one.
Establishment
Ethan Brown launched the project in 2009. He was driven by a desire to fight climate change and protect both humans and animals. He enlisted the financial support of entrepreneurs such as Biz Stone, Kleiner Perkins and Bill Gates. They were impressed by his prospective business plan. Brown didn’t just want to change the world by creating plates of healthy food. He wished to do it as a businessman.
In the early years of the company, he was invited to Warren Buffett’s investment strategy, which is how he ended up at Columbia Business School. After ten years, Brown thought he could bring an even more positive transformation by cooperating with McDonald’s. Although the project was launched in 2009, it joined the retail market in 2012.
Changes in the recipe
The company announced the expansion of its Beyond IV product line with the introduction of the new, fourth-generation Beyond Sausage to US grocery stores. With an improved taste and meaty texture, the new sausage has been tweaked to improve taste. This is part of the ongoing mission to promote plant-based proteins that not only taste great but also have significant nutritional and environmental benefits for consumers. The updated Beyond Sausage is incredibly juicy, meaty and tasty. It’s made with avocado oil, which helps reduce saturated fat to just 2 grams per serving. In addition, the sausage has less sodium than the previous version and a simplified list of ingredients.
Some of the key changes in the fourth generation of Beyond Sausage:
- It is made with avocado oil, which is high in heart-healthy monounsaturated fats
- A 66% reduction in saturated fat compared to the previous version is observed
- It contains only 2 grams of fat per serving, which is 75% less saturated fat than traditional pork sausage
- It is an excellent source of protein with 17 grams per serving
- The list of ingredients has been simplified and coconut and rapeseed oil have been excluded
- It is featured in the collection of heart-healthy recipes certified by the American Heart Association program
- It is certified under the Better Choices for Life program of the American Diabetes Association.
The new Beyond Sausage is an incredibly tasty and versatile product that is a must-have for summer events. It serves as the classic sausage, pepper and onion to the perfect protein addition to pasta, salads and more. These juicy sausages are grilled and are fried well thanks to the addition of avocado oil.
Production capacity
Over the past decade, the project has launched a few production facilities worldwide to distribute the products over the US, the Middle East, Africa and Europe. It has even expanded into China where one of its manufacturing sites is located. The Beyond Meat manufacturing facility is based in Jiaxing. It is the company’s first end-to-end plant outside the United States.
Competitors
The project operates in a highly competitive environment that includes both animal protein and plant-based meat suppliers. In North America, leading suppliers of fresh meat (beef, pork and poultry) and a variety of specialty meat products included:
- The largest meat supplier in the world is JBS. A company headquartered in Brazil, whose product range consisted of beef and pork products, 19 brands of fresh beef and hamburgers and specialty turkey and chicken meats
- Tyson Foods is a global meat supplier with 2019 sales of more than $42 billion. The company’s range consists of fresh and frozen Tyson chicken products, fresh beef and pork
- The Raised & Rooted plant-based meat brand was available in 7,000 stores as of November 2019. As of early 2020, Tysonʼs Raised & Rooted product line consisted of pea protein, bamboo fiber, egg white and golden flaxseed meals. The Blend hamburger patties are made with pea protein, dry egg white solids and a variety of flavorings and seasonings
- Cargill is one of the world’s largest global suppliers of fresh beef and products from poultry with sales in 2019 of more than $113 billion. In April 2020, Cargill announced that it would begin selling a full line of plant-based meat products, including hamburger patties and ground beef. Shortly thereafter, three KFC restaurants in China conducted a three-day test of plant-based fried chicken nuggets supplied by Cargill
- Hormel is a well-known company with sales in 2019 of $9.5 billion. The company’s range includes bacon, sausages, chicken burgers and strips, hot dogs, frozen beef and turkey burgers
- The product range of the company Field Roast mainly consists of wheat and other grains. The main ingredients in Lightlife’s plant-based burger patties and ground meat were pea protein, coconut oil and beetroot powder. Other products were plant-based chicken nuggets, hot dogs, bacon and sausages.
Various brands have used soy protein, pea protein, potato protein, wheat protein or other grains as the main ingredient. The products included coconut oil, sunflower oil, canola oil or some other type of vegetable oil, starch, yeast extract, beet juice extract, salt, water and a diverse assortment of spices, vitamins, minerals and natural flavorings.
Most plant-based meats have the same protein level as their animal counterparts. However, it has lower cholesterol, less saturated fat, higher dietary fiber and no antibiotics or hormones. Both plant-based and natural meat patties of the same weight usually contain about 20 grams of protein.
Cookbook
The company presented the first-ever cookbook Love Welcome Serve. This is a collection of heart health recipes certified by the American Heart Association. These recipes, which meet strict guidelines for calories, saturated fat, sodium and added sugar, give consumers confidence that when they prepare these meals, they’re making something that’s not only delicious but also good for their health. Products featured in it include the new Beyond Sausage, Beyond Burger and Beyond Beef, as well as Beyond Steak. The cookbook is available as a free download on the website and helps make nutritious, sustainable plant-based meals more accessible to everyone.