This month, Sainsbury will nearly double its distribution of the Beyond Burger in stores nationwide. Upmarket retailer Waitrose has launched the Beyond Burger and Beyond Sausage. Between the two, Beyond’s products will be available in 445 retails stores in the UK.
The manufacturer is also expanding into more than 1,000 German retail stores and about 1,140 stores in Austria. The first quarter of 2021 also saw Beyond Monice become available in the Netherlands and Switzerland for the first time.
Plant-based meat, egg and ‘dairy’ attracted the most alt-protein investment globally in 2020, claims the Good Food Institute.
Food Manufacture’s plant-based proteins conference
The organisation’s foodservice and supply chain manager Zak Weston spoke at Food Manufacture's virtual plant-based protein conference.
All of the sessions from our plant-based proteins conference are available on demand, including Edward Bergen from Mintel’s look at 2021 trends for plant-based.
Beyond’s latest push into the European market followed a 49% grow in sales in the region over the past two years – in June 2020, Beyond Meat announced the opening of its first co-manufacturing facility in Europe in partnership with Zandbergen World’s Finest Meat in Zoeterwoude.
Chuck Muth, chief growth officer at Beyond Meat, said: “These new and expanded retail partnerships in the UK serve as strong proof points that Europe’s appetite for plant-based meat and Beyond Meat products in particular is on the rise.
“We know our customers are looking for alternative protein options that taste great, and due to consumer demand we’ve been able to grow rapidly to make plant-based meat options that are better for the planet and more accessible to all.”
Mimicking meat
Founded in 2009, Beyond Meat designs its products to have the same taste and texture as animal-based meat while causing less impact on the environment.
The manufacturer’s products are available at approximately 122,000 retail and foodservice outlets in more than 80 countries worldwide.