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Dive Brief:
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Beyond Meat raised $100 million from a plant-based nonprofit, providing the alternative meat company with much-needed cash as it struggles with declining sales, distribution hiccups and a dimmed consumer outlook.
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Unprocessed Foods will provide the debt financing loan in exchange for the right to purchase up to 12.5% of Beyond’s shares. Unprocessed is an affiliate of Ahimsa Foundation, which focuses "on advocating for plant-based diets," Beyond said in a statement.
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The loan comes as Beyond reported a "disappointing" first quarter, according to founder and CEO Ethan Brown, with U.S. retail sales falling 15.4% to $31.4 million and product volume slumping 23.3%. The California company noted declining consumer confidence and other headwinds, including lost distribution at retailers, contributed to a $1.1 million loss during the period.
Dive Insight:
Declining sales in the plant-based sector have prompted grocers to limit offerings or change where they display products, compounding problems for alternative meat producers such as Beyond.
At least two large retailers moved Beyond’s products from the fresh refrigerated section to the frozen aisle, pausing distribution during that transition, Brown told investors. That pause led to supply issues at stores, significantly impacting sales volumes.
While distribution is set to recover throughout the rest of 2025, the move to the frozen section could make it more difficult for Beyond to position its products as an alternative to traditional meats.
"The challenge becomes velocity," Brown told investors on an earnings call. "And that's the harder challenge."
Plant-based meat sales in 2024 declined 2.3% across the industry, according to Nielsen data. Beyond, which saw revenue drop 9.1% in the first quarter compared to last year, has aggressively mobilized to cut costs and shore up its liquidity.
The company laid off approximately 6% of its workforce in February and suspended operations in China to reduce costs. Beyond also looked to investors to borrow as much as $250 million, Bloomberg reported.
The $100 million from Unprocessed provides "additional liquidity as we advance our strategic priorities and invest opportunistically to help us drive our growth plans," Brown said in a press release.
The CEO added that the business will evaluate additional opportunities to shore up its finances as it doubles down on efforts to position plant-based meat as a healthy alternative for consumers to increase their protein intake. Beyond has moved to combat "misinformation" about the health of its ingredients, Brown said, noting the company's "value proposition remains obscured in doubt."