Beyond Meat's Third Attempt At Introducing Plant-Based Chicken: Will The Public Bite?

Beyond Meat Inc. BYND has introduced Beyond Chicken Tenders, its latest attempt to bring a plant-based chicken product to market.

What Happened: According to the El Segundo, California-based company, the new product will be available in nearly 400 smaller restaurant chains and independent eateries across the nation, including Bad Mutha Clucka, Detroit Wing Company, Milwaukee Burger Company and Stanley's Northeast Bar Room.

The product will not be available in U.S. supermarkets, although the Toronto-based vegan grocer Good Rebel Vegan Provisions will be offering it in 8-packs and 5-lb bulk bags for delivery across Canada.

Beyond Chicken Tenders are made from plant-based ingredients including fava beans and peas, and the company added the product offers 14g of protein per serving and 40% less saturated fat than the major foodservice chicken tenders.

Beyond Chicken Tenders are also made without GMOs, antibiotics and hormones, and have no cholesterol.

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Why It Matters: The company has been flustered in successfully launching a plant-based chicken product. An earlier product marketed as Beyond’s Chicken Strips were discontinued in 2019 after failing to catch on with consumers, while a test run of plant-based fried chicken substitute with KFC proved unsatisfactory.

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, CEO Ethan Brown admitted his product line has yet to be mistaken for the animal products they are trying to replace.

“The real test for us is to make each of our platforms — beef, pork and poultry — indistinguishable from animal protein,” he stated.

“How do you make a raw chicken breast with the translucent skin, the color transition that occurs? Steak, given its distribution of fat and protein, and, of course, bacon? Those three things are the holy grail.”

Beyond Meat Stock Action: At last check Thursday, Beyond Meat shares were trading at $140.39, sandwiched between its 52-week high of $221.00 and its 52-week low of $99.86.

(Photo: The new Beyond Chicken Tenders.)