Beyond Meat falls short in Q4 due to weak retail demand

The Associated Press ^ | February 24, 2022 | By DEE-ANN DURBIN

[Oldeconomybuyer]

Plant-based meat company Beyond Meat said Thursday that its sales dropped in the fourth quarter due to weak U.S. retail demand.

Beyond Meat said restaurant sales are showing promise as its products roll out to more locations. Panda Express began selling Beyond Meat orange chicken at 70 U.S. locations in October, for example. Beyond Meat’s U.S. food service sales rose 35% for the quarter.

But the company said that couldn’t make up for a 19.5% decline in sales at U.S. groceries and other retailers.

In a statement, Beyond Meat President and CEO Ethan Brown said the company believes weak retail sales __ for its own products and that of competitors __ is a “temporary disruption.”

But in a research note Thursday, J.P. Morgan analyst Ken Goldman noted that Beyond Meat rival Maple Leaf Foods also reported a “pronounced slowdown” in plant-based meat sales. Maple Leaf Foods, which also reported fourth quarter earnings Thursday, said it was reevaluating plant-based meat retail sales.

[X-FID]

I tried a Subway years ago with Green Giant fake meat in it and I admit it was not bad, never tried it again. When Burger King came out with the “Impossible” Whopper I gave it a shot, no meat flavor, actually no flavor at all what a waste.

[dgbrown]

My bet is demand was never there and the first round of orders were spoiled. 19% decline when all other food stuffs are up 10%— that’s not declining sales, that’s failure.