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Beyond Meat makes sizzling Wall Street debut
NEW YORK, May 3, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – The celebrity-backed vegan burger start-
up Beyond Meat made a sizzling Wall Street debut Thursday, more than doubling
its share price, as investors show an appetite for the growing trend in
plant-based diets.
Backed by Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio and Microsoft founder Bill
Gates, the California-based firm had valued itself at about $1.5 billion at
opening on the Nasdaq exchange.
But its starting share price of $25 soon sky-rocketed to $65.75, before
ending at $59.43 — a valuation of 3.38 billion dollars.
Founded in 2009, the company has tapped into changing consumer appetites
as growing numbers of people turn to plant-based meat alternatives, whether
vegans who shun all animal products or flexitarians advocating moderate
consumption of meat.
Its public offering comes a month after its Silicon-valley rival
Impossible linked up with Burger King to offer a plant-based version of its
signature Whopper.
Nestle and Unilever are also aiming to cement their presence in the
expanding sector.
Beyond Meat’s early trading success is further proof of the mainstream
appeal of plant-based foods, according to Bruce Friedrich, director of the
Good Food Institute, an organization promoting alternatives to animal
products.
Investors “recognize that this is not a niche market but a movement of
magnitude and a big financial opportunity,” he told AFP.
“The plant-based meat industry is thriving and consumers can not get
enough of it.”
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– Environmental alternatives –
As climate change movements take hold across the world, enviroment-
conscious citizens are looking for ways to reduce their impact on the world,
including rethinking their diet.
The food firm says its signature Beyond Burger uses significantly less
water, less land, generates fewer greenhouse gas emissions, and requires less
energy compared to a US quarter-pound beef burger.
Eating a plant-based protein would “help address concerns related to human
health, climate change, resource conservation and animal welfare” as it seeks
to compete with the $1.4 trillion global meat industry, it adds.
However, despite its popularity Beyond Meat is still not profitable and
recorded a net loss of $30 million in 2018, according to its most recent
financial records released Monday.
But it has seen strong growth, with $88 million in sales in 2018, compared
with $33 million in 2017 and $16 million in 2016.
“We have a history of losses, and we may be unable to achieve or sustain
profitability,” the firm cautioned in its filing with the Securities and
Exchange Commission.
The group said it would use the funds raised to “expand our marketing
channels, invest in our distribution and manufacturing facilities, hire
additional employees and enhance our technology and production capabilities.”
While soy burgers have existed for quite some time, Beyond Meat is one of
several companies that have taken the product up a notch by using
sophisticated technology to make it taste, look and smell like meat.
It uses peas, beans and soy to make steak, sausage and minced meat
alternatives and uses beets to make its burgers “bleed”. The product is
already sold in thousands of supermarkets and restaurants, including TGI
Fridays.
Beside Gates and DiCaprio, its early backers include Twitter co-founders
Biz Stone and Evan Williams, former McDonald’s director Don Thompson, meat
giant Tyson Foods and the Humane Society.
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