Dive Brief:
- Beyond Meat on Thursday unveiled its latest product under its fourth generation formulation with Beyond Sausage.
- The new product, which includes a Brat Original and Hot Italian-Style offering, will be available at grocery stores nationwide, including at Whole Foods, Publix and Kroger. A Mild Italian-Style variation will be offered later this summer.
- Beyond has been rolling out product expansions as part of its mission to meet the consumer demands around cleaner labels. The new sausage iteration has ingredients like avocado oil and an “enhanced flavor and a meatier texture,” the company said.
Dive Insight:
The California plant-based pioneer started 2024 with the debut of its new formulation, Beyond IV, and said it would be delivering products with a cleaner label and healthier ingredients.
The company has removed canola and coconut oils, replacing them with avocado, and reduced its saturated fat content while increasing protein: The product includes 66% less saturated fat than the previous version and 17 grams of protein per link.
Despite these changes, Beyond Meat saw its eighth straight quarter of revenue declines in Q1.
Beyond Meat executives are confident the company’s strategy of prioritizing health in its new products will jump-start sales. “We believe that 2024 is a pivotal year for change and progress,” CEO Ethan Brown said on the company’s May earnings call.
To accompany the product launch, Beyond Meat has created its first-ever cookbook, “Serve Love,” which features “a collection of heart-healthy Beyond Meat recipes certified by the American Heart Association’s Heart-Check program.”
“We know that food is an act of love, and serving Beyond Meat to your family is a radical act of love. Our ‘Serve Love’ cookbook celebrates this love and makes it easier than ever for consumers to prepare delicious and heart-healthy plant-based recipes," AK Oghoghomeh, chief marketing officer at Beyond Meat, said in a statement.
