Raised & Rooted: Tyson Enters The Plant-Based Food Products Market

Tyson Foods, Inc. TSN is jumping on the meat-free bandwagon by announcing the launch of its first plant-based blended products, along with its new Raised & Rooted brand.

This is a big move for Tyson Foods, which is the largest U.S. meat producer to enter the growing alternative protein segment with its own products.

“Today’s consumers are seeking more protein options so we’re creating new products for the growing number of people open to flexible diets that include both meat and plant-based protein,” said Tyson CEO Noel White. “For us, this is about ‘and’ – not ‘or.’ We remain firmly committed to our growing traditional meat business and expect to be a market leader in alternative protein, which is experiencing double-digit growth and could someday be a billion-dollar business for our company."

The move comes as Beyond Meat BYND continues to make news high since debuting May 2. The stock is up 500% from its IPO price of $25 per share.

Beyond Meat has an outstanding short position valued at around $813 million, or roughly 51 percent of the stock’s float, according to financial analytics firm S3 Partners. Short sellers took a $229 million loss last Friday alone.

Tyson Foods shares traded up 2.9% at $84.30 in Thursday's pre-market session. Beyond Meat shares traded down 3.4% at $137.10.

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