Tyson Foods appears to be the first big meat company to invest in a business that, among other things, aims to reduce consumption of chicken, beef and pork by replacing it with plant proteins.
Tyson, the US’ largest meat processor, on Monday announced that it is investing an undisclosed amount for a 5 percent stake in Beyond Meat, a company based in El Segundo, California, that makes “meats” from protein sources such as peas and soy.
Beyond Meat this year began selling the Beyond Burger, for instance, a plant-protein burger sold fresh that sizzles and oozes fats while cooking on a griddle.
Whole Foods Market has been selling Beyond Burger next to the meat case in its stores.
“The quality of the Beyond Burger is amazing,” said Monica McGurk, a former Coca-Cola executive who joined Tyson in spring as senior vice president in charge of strategy and new ventures. “We think it’s a game-changing product that gives us exposure to this fast-growing part of the food business.”
The financing round includes other investors like the Humane Society of the United States.
Americans are eating more plant-based foods, leaving conventional food companies scrambling to catch up.
The Plant Based Foods Association said businesses in the US, which include Beyond Meat, Califia Farms and Heidi Ho, rang up US$4.9 billion in sales for the 12 months through June, and grew faster than the food business overall.
Plant Based Foods Association executive director Michele Simon said Tyson’s investment was the first she knew of in which a big traditional meat producer took a stake in a plant-based company.
“The question in my mind with these acquisitions is always why they’re being done,” Simon said. “The most positive view is that this means the meat industry is shifting away from animal meat to plant-based meat, but I don’t think we know that’s the case yet — it could also be a way of distracting attention from their industrial meat business.”
Beyond Meat founder and chief executive Ethan Brown said he knew the investment would raise eyebrows, particularly among the most ardent vegans and vegetarians.
“I’m hoping, though, that they and others will see this as part of a deliberate course of action to get out of the penalty box that’s the ‘alternative’ section in the supermarket and get into a mainstream discussion with the consumer,” Brown said.
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