Beyond Meat Partners with Veggie Grill

Plant-based company Beyond Meat partnered with vegan fast-casual chain Veggie Grill to sell Beyond Burgers at 28 restaurant locations. The popular vegan burger—which appears to “bleed,” thanks to beet juice—launched in the meat section of a Boulder, CO Whole Foods Market in May, where it sold out within one hour. Supported by the investment that meat producer Tyson made in Beyond Meat earlier this month, CEO Ethan Brown is planning an aggressive expansion of the innovative burger to Whole Foods Markets nationwide by the end of the year. “I’ve set a goal for the company and for myself, and it is very personal to me,” Brown told Fortune. “By the time my kids are 16—they are 11 and 12 today—they should be able to walk into a McDonald’s or Burger King and be able to buy a Beyond Burger.” Veggie Grill CEO Steve Heeley says the burger is an iconic piece of Americana, and Beyond Meat’s version is “the holy grail” of vegetarian burgers, stating, “We think this is something that our guests are going to flock to.” Veggie Grill restaurants will offer the burger—“with a ton of traditional fixings” according to Fortune—for $12.95 in early December.