Do Beyond Meat and other plant based meat companies have a realistic future?

6 years since Beyond Meat listed and peaked at >$10bn, it now falls in the American definition of ‘penny stock’ with a market cap of >$200m and a share price of under US$5 (it is US$2.40 to be exact). How did we get to this point? Does this sector have a future and was it just a short-term fad anyway? Let’s take a look.

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Beyond Meat rose to spectacular heights

Beyond Meat was not the only plant-based meat company, but the most notorious pure-play. This company was founded in 2009 with its founders believing it could win over meat-eaters by having food with the exact same taste. Its first forays were into chicken and it launched its first major product in Whole Foods in 2012.

Lacklustre feedback resulted in the company pivoting to beef substitutes, starting with ‘Beyond Beef Crumbles’ then launching the Beyond Burger in 2016. It was marketed as the first plant-based burger that “bleeds” (from beet juice), sold in the meat aisle, not the vegan section. This was revolutionary positioning.

By 2018, it had tripled sales…compared to 2017. It had raised capital from major names, including Bill Gates and Leonardo DiCaprio. It partnered with many grocery stores, expanded overseas and into the restaurant sector partnering with chains including Carl’s Jr. and TGI Fridays.

May 2019 saw its IPO and it was the first company in its sector to go public. Moreover, it gained 163% in a day, the biggest first day rise since 2000. This was despite listing at a 40x revenue multiple when most consumer businesses traded at 1-2x (even then) and Facebook listed at 28x.

From riches to rags

It has been all downhill since for Beyond Meat. The reality is that the company was never profitable, making over US$80m in losses in the 3 years prior to its IPO. In 2019 and 2020, with low interest rates, investors were happy to disregard a lack of profitability (or even a plan towards achieving it). Things all changed when rates started hiking and investors looked to profitability as something important.

But also, Beyond Meat’s top line began to shrink too. Sales faltered, particularly in the U.S., with consumer scepticism over product value, health positioning, and taste authenticity. Critics labelled many products as “ultra-processed,” undermining health-conscious branding. The foods may be high in protein but they are highly processed and may contain seed oils and high levels of saturated fat.

Moreover, economic uncertainty and cost-conscious consumers opted for cheaper, familiar animal proteins. Why pay a 50-80% premium in tough economic times? Plant-based meats, still price-premium, lost ground as consumers found it increasingly difficult to answer that question.

A lawsuit filed against the company, alleging misleading statements about partnership scaling with fast-food brands like McDonald’s and Starbucks, hurt things too. Despite it being settled for $7.5m, the stigma stuck. Now the company had better momentum in Europe, but investors disregarded it.

The bottom line is that the novelty of plant based foods generally has just about worn off, except those who like to mock anything that is down.

How Beyond Meat Portfolios look like
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What does the future hold for Beyond Meat?

Beyond Meat’s most recent quarterly result (for Q2 of 2025) saw a near 20% decline in net sales to US$75m with the weak US retail sales channel dragging down results. But the big things out of the results were hints of what the future may hold. One thing that was noteworthy was the hiring of corporate restructuring expert John Boken as ‘interim chief transformation officer’.

CEO Ethan Brown told analysts on the earnings call that the two outcomes he’d be seeking were to ‘get the operational footprint into the current revenue environment’ and to ‘become EBITDA positive within the second half of next year’. Another looming concern is its debt burden, totalling $1.2bn and mostly tied up in convertible notes set to mature in 2027. Not good for a company with $100m cash and worth less than $200m. The company understandably wants to refinance this before that time.

One final thing worth noting was Brown admitting that,’ It’s not the moment for plant-based [meat] right now’, and was looking to ‘meet broader consumer protein needs’.

Conclusion

The bottom line here is that Beyond Meat was a company too overpriced to begin with and needs an improvement in consumer settlement and a refinancing of its debt. In absence of both, it is difficult to envision much of a future for it.