than Brown, chief executiveofficerof
Beyond Meat Inc., doesn’twanttotalk
about his company’s stockprice.He’s
more than happy to talk aboutBeyond’s
plant-derived meat matrixoritsathlete
spokespeople, or even howhisproducts
aren’tquiteasgoodasthey should be—yet. But thestockprice?
No.NoteveninJune,when the shares were tradingat500%
abovetheirinitialpublic offering price. “I generallydon’tcom-
mentonstockprice,”he says, possibly out of genuinehumil-
ity,ormaybesoasnotto jinx anything.
Brownpreferstohold forth about the meatlikesubstances
he’sbeenworkingonformorethan 10 years,breakingplant
materialsdownintotheircomponentparts—aminoacids,lip-
ids,minerals—andthenrebuilding them to mimicthestructure
ofanimalflesh.He’llidentify the five necessary sensoryexpe-
riences:fat,flavor,aroma, appearance, and texture.“Meatis
thesefivecomponents,” he says. “What the animalis doingis
organizingplantmaterial.” Instead of using
cowstoturnplantsinto burgers, Beyond
usesa systemofheating, cooling, and pres-
sure.Theresultis a raw, reddish-brown patty
that’sclosertoanimalmeat in taste and tex-
turethananyfreezer-aisle predecessor.
Brownisalsoeager to discuss Beyond
Meat’s“rapidandrelentless innovation,”
whichkeepsit churning out prototypes. The
latestbeefiterations,Brown says, approach a
true burger’s “heterogeneity of the bite” (or,
in more vegan-triggering terms, the “variety
of tissue”). Its burger includes cocoa butter
for a marbled texture, apple extract for red-to-browncolor
transition, and a protein blend made from peas,mungbeans,
and rice. It improves on the last version, but it’snotexactly
mirroring beef. In raw form, it’s stickier and smellsa littleoff;
on the grill or in a pan, it cooks only to mediumanddoesn’t
shrink like a real burger. Brown knows the productisn’tquite
there yet; he says it’s 65% to 70% there.
But back to the stock price, which everyonewantstotalk
about even if Brown doesn’t. For investors and rivals,thename
BeyondMeatis shorthandforthewholeindustry.It’sthestar
ofa movementthatfordecadeshasbeentryingandfailingto
takeveganproductsmainstream.Thefrozen-hockey-puckveg-
gie patties of yore haven’t gone away, they’re just notwherethe
action is. Kellogg Co.’s MorningStar Farms is still No.1 inmeat-
less burgers, but its share is shrinking. Beyond anda longline
of competitors are battling it out to make the bestproductand
amass the most restaurant and retail customers.Somehow,in
a year that saw IPOs from Uber, Lyft, Slack, and Pinterest,the
breakout star has been a company making fake meat.Not so long ago, consumer food choices wereunderstood
to be driven by taste, price, and convenience. They’rewhyBig
Macs and sandwich meats were such enduring Americansta-
ples, despite headline after headline linking red andprocessedmeatstoeverythingfromobesitytocancertoprematuredeath.
Today,healthis a topconcernformanyconsumers—frommil-
lennialslookingfor“organic”and“natural” labels to older
Americansworriedaboutcardiovascularhealthanddiabetes.
Concernfortheenvironmentis alsobeginningtoinfluence
purchasingdecisions,especiallyamongyoungershoppers.
Plant-based foods check both the health and environment
boxes, or at least that’s the perception. Almost a third of con-
sumers surveyed by Mintel Group Ltd. last year said they
consideredplant-basedburgershealthierthantheanimal
kind.Asawarenessofbeef ’senvironmentalimpactspreads—
livestock accounts for about 14.5% of man-made greenhouse
gases, and about 41% of that comes from raising beef—vegan
alternativesbecomeevenmoreappealing.Retailsalesbear
outthesechangingattitudes,withmeatsubstituteshitting
$895millionintheU.S.fortheyearendedMay25,accord-
ingtodatafromNielsenHoldingsPlc.That’stinynexttothe
$90 billion insalesforactualmeat,andgrowthmayslowif
consumers notice faux meat’s calories. But
to investors it’s just the start.
This year, major food companies
haveannouncedplanstoenterthemeat-
alternative market or expand their offerings
in it. Nestlé SA has a soy- and wheat-based
Incredible Burger in Europe (already in
McDonald’s in Germany), and a pea-based
Awesome Burger is coming to the U.S. in
September. Conagra Brands Inc.’s Gardein,
long a vegetarian favorite, has an improved
burgerandproductsforthehotdogandsau-
sagecategoriesontheway.“Gardein’scorn
burgerplatformis underdeveloped,” Conagra’s CEO told inves-
tors on a June earnings call, “and we are in the process of
creating the next generation of beefless burger.” Maple Leaf
Foods Inc.’s Lightlife line, already well known for its veggie hot
dogs and sausage, offers raw plant meat in more than 7,500
U.S. stores. Smithfield Foods Inc., the world’s biggest pork
producer, has a line of soy-based products on the way. Even
Safeway is selling its own raw patties. “I really feel we’re about
to enter burger wars,” says Brian Swette, co-founder of Sweet
Earth Foods, Nestlé’s plant-based brand.
Beyond’s real competition, though, probably isn’t the
major food companies. Rather, it’s Impossible Foods Inc.,
anotherCaliforniastartupproducing“bleeding”“beef.”The
ImpossibleBurger,availableinroughly15,000restaurantsand
food-servicelocations,accordingtothecompany,is another
avatarofa theoreticallymeat-freefuture.Todate,Impossible
hasraisedmorethan$750million,andit’sestimatedtobeval-
uedat$2billion.That’sa fractionofBeyond’sroughly$9bil-
lionmarketvalue(itpeakedatjustabove$14billion),butboth
arechasingthesamesustainability-minded consumers, who
want to have their beef and low-carbon lifestyle, too.
Beyond and Impossible are often mistaken for each
other—both count Bill Gates as an investor, and both are led
by CEOs named Brown (Patrick at Impossible) who like52
Bloomberg Businessweek August 26, 2019FOOD STYLIST: MICHELLE GATTON“THE BEYOND
BRATWURST
IS THE
CLOSEST
YOU’LL EVER
COME TO
TRICKING A
MEAT EATER”