Dive Brief:
- Beyond Meat patties have been added to the menu of plant-based meal delivery service Fresh 'n Lean, according to a press release.
- The Beyond Meat offering will be available on Fresh 'n Lean's a la carte menu, where customers can order the patties in bulk or as part of a line of plant-based performance meals that will roll out this summer.
- Fresh 'n lean, which provides heat-and-eat meals that don’t require any prepping, expects to sell 100,000 Beyond Meat patties this year.
Dive Insight:
Beyond Meat, the wildly popular maker of plant-based meal alternatives including the Beyond Burger, has continued its upward trajectory in recent weeks. The company launched its IPO at $25 per share May 2 and ended its first day of being publicly traded 163% above its IPO price.
The "meat" maker has also pursued new products, most recently announcing Beyond Beef, which will be available in stores later this year. Beyond Meat unveiled another meal delivery partnership last month with Trifecta, a California-based company focused organic food.
Fresh 'n Lean is a lesser known entity in the meal delivery space, but it has a national reach and caters to a segment of eaters that prefers organic foods that are dairy-free, gluten-free, preservative and hormone-free. Its plant-based focus aligns well with Beyond Meat, and the product is likely to fulfill customer demand.
For Beyond Meat, partnerships with meal companies offer a new channel to reach more consumers outside of traditional grocery stores and restaurants. With like-minded partners like Fresh 'n Lean and Trifecta, there’s potential to connect with customers who are committed to plant-based foods, whereas shoppers or diners that encounter Beyond Meat products in stores and restaurants could be trying it out of curiosity without plans for repeat purchase.
The companies are sure to benefit from the surge in demand for plant-based foods. The U.S. plant-based meat market is expected to reach $3 billion by 2024, and 30% of Americans have said that they are reducing their meat consumption, Fast Company reported.
All this demand has created some concerns over product shortages. Last summer, Beyond Meat delayed plans to expand into the U.K. due to dwindling inventory — just one example of demand outpacing supply for the company. With Fresh 'n Lean's prediction that it will sell 100,000 Beyond Meat patties this year alone, the ability to fill orders is essential.
CEO Ethan Brown recently told Business Insider that Beyond Meat has rebuilt its supply chain, however, and doesn’t anticipate the issue to continue. Competitor Impossible Foods is facing similar challenges, particularly with its recent launch in Burger King.
