Beyond Meats and Other Alternative Protein Foods Will Become MASSIVE

Beyond Meat made its debut in the stock market at the start of the month and saw its shares explode through the gate. The stock saw gains of 163% on its first date of trading on Wall Street and signaled just how in demand plant-based alternative meat is. Beyond Meat, which makes vegetarian burgers and sausages, began trading at $25 a share on the Nasdaq stock exchange on its first day and ended the day at $65.75.

The stock has continued to soar this month and even hit an all-time high recently after the company announced that Tim Hortons is testing its plant-based sausages in select markets. The coffee chain, which is a unit of Restaurant Brands International, said that it is testing Beyond Breakfast Sausage in three breakfast sandwiches in select markets. “Canadians are looking to incorporate plant-based options into their diets and we’re thrilled to partner with Beyond Meat to test three Beyond Meat Breakfast Sandwiches — including an entirely vegan offering if the market test confirms the potential we see for the platform,” said Alex Macedo, president of Tim Hortons.

In test markets, the plant-based sausage will be available in the Beyond Meat Breakfast Sandwich, the Beyond Meat Farmers Breakfast Wrap, as well as the Beyond Meat Vegan Sandwich. “As Canadians’ tastes and culinary preferences evolve, Tim Hortons is looking to provide new options for guests with a new Beyond Meat breakfast sandwich test,” the company said in a release.
“The team did a lot of research and tested what products would work best as an alternative to beef or sausage in the breakfast category, and we concluded Beyond Meat was the right alternative,” Restaurant Brands CEO Jose Cil said to CNBC’s Kate Rogers.

Burger King, which is also under the Restaurant Brands International brand, is also rolling out a Whopper in additional markets that is plant-based that is made with the plant-based patty of Beyond’s competitor, Impossible Foods.

Beyond Meat’s CEO, Ethan Brown, has previously said to CNBC that the company is trying to capture the meat industry’s customers. According to Bloomberg Intelligence, the Beyond Meat success will push companies like Kellogg Co., Conagra Brands Inc. and Kraft Heinz Co. to spend more on plant innovation. Tyson Foods also announced not too long ago that the company will be launching meatless products starting this summer.

Tyson, which once was an investor in Beyond Meat, will be making its own plant-based meat substitutes. Tyson Foods CEO Noel White told analysts on the company’s quarterly conference call that the plant-based product will launch this summer on a limited basis. It will then have a wider rollout in October and November.