Vegan Burger to Be Sold in Meat Counter in the Works

Beyond Meat is working on a burger it says is so revolutionary, it will be “the first plant-based burger that will be placed in the meat counter.” The new burger will reportedly be refrigerated—rather than frozen like Beyond Meat’s existing Beast Burger patty offering—and will continue to utilize non-GMO pea protein, according to Executive Chairman Seth Goldman. “It’s a breathtaking product. If the Beast Burger was plant-based burger 1.0, then the new burger is more like 5.0.” Goldman also mentioned a test marketing campaign this spring in a limited number of outlets in preparation for a larger expansion down the road. With other vegan items such as milks and cheeses slowly creeping out of specialty health aisles and into refrigerated dairy cases across the country, the placement of Beyond Meat’s new product in a traditional deli counter—available perhaps for the first time to consumers who have no previous experience with vegan meat—will be yet another instance of plant-based products subverting outdated ideas about food.