Beyond Burger Aims to Be Cheaper Than Beef

Beyond Meat’s vegan meat alternatives will soon be cheaper than their animal-derived counterparts, according to the company’s CEO Ethan Brown. Brown aims to refine the recipe for Beyond Meat’s products—which are currently reliant on rice and pea proteins—to focus on less expensive plant-derived sources such as mustard and sunflower seeds and lupin. “There’s no reason this shouldn’t be cheaper than meat, and to get there we need to make investments in the supply chain,” Brown told Forbes. “The plant kingdom is replete with protein, once we think of it as a human food source and not a feed source for animals.” Brown revealed that 93 percent of Beyond Meat customers are meat-eaters and once its products are cheaper than meat, the company expects more non-vegan consumers to purchase its products in place of animal meat. “We have an ambition to be part of the generation that separates meat from animals,” Brown said. Beyond Meat is currently available in more than 35,000 points of distribution worldwide and plans to launch a ground beef version of its popular burger in the meat department at retailers this year.