Dive Brief:
- Beyond Meat unveiled its latest product called Sun Sausage, the plant-based pioneer’s first offering that doesn’t replicate beef, pork or poultry. The company created the product as its own protein that can be incorporated into other foods.
- The Sun Sausage has whole, clean ingredients such as spinach, bell peppers, brown rice and red lentils. It is available in three flavors: Pineapple Jalapeno, Pesto and Cajun exclusively at Sprouts Farmers Markets nationwide.
- The innovation comes as Beyond Meat continues to grapple with financial headwinds. After reporting the company’s eighth consecutive quarter of declining revenue in May, CEO Ethan Brown said he was optimistic about 2024 and how its new heart-healthy products could help the struggling company.
Dive Insight:
The development of Sun Sausage was part of Beyond Meat’s strategy to create better-for-you offerings.
The new product will be made with avocado oil and protein sources, such as fava beans.
A Beyond Meat spokesperson told Food Dive that the company believes this product will “raise the nutrition bar” of the entire plant-based category.
The company also said Sun Sausage earned certification from the American Heart Association’s Heart-Check program and the American Diabetes Association’s Better Choices for Life program, a status that its other recent innovations have achieved.
“We’re excited for our fans to try this delicious new product as it’s unlike anything else currently available in the plant-based space,” said Diana Stavaridis, the senior culinary manager at Beyond Meat.
As part of its health-focused reformulation, the company has debuted products such as its Beyond Burger, Beyond Beef and Beyond Sausage that contain a reduced amount of saturated fat.
“We believe that 2024 is a pivotal year for change and progress,” Brown said during the company’s latest earnings call in May.
Despite his optimism, Beyond Meat has struggled as consumer interest in the plant-based category has waned.
Plant-based meat and seafood sales declined in 2023 for the second year in a row, according to the Good Food Institute’s State of the Industry report. Higher prices compared to conventional meat products, along with concerns about the processed ingredients used in plant-based meat, helped fuel the downfall.
Amid their economic struggles, the company recently engaged with a group of bondholders to initiate discussions about a balance-sheet restructuring, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The group of bondholders has interests in the company’s $1.1 billion of convertible notes after the company has been burning cash in recent quarters.
