- Beyond Meat’s success is due in part to numerous high-profile partnerships with restaurant chains and food-delivery services.
- As demand for plant-based meat alternatives booms, having the right network is important for Beyond Meat and its competitors.
- These are the top restaurant and food-delivery partnerships that have boosted Beyond Meat’s stock price.
- Read more on Markets Insider.
Beyond Meat has led a booming plant-based protein movement – and it’s had some important partners along the way.
The company charmed the public market with its recent initial public offering, and it has soared more than 730% since its initial listing in May. But even before the plant-based meat-alternatives company went public, it had numerous partnerships with fast-food chains.
That company has continued to add partners as it seeks growth. Soon after the company went public, analysts estimated that a partnership with McDonald’s could send the stock up as much as 30%. Since May, numerous partnerships have indeed boosted the stock, from the announcement of Beyond Sausage in breakfast sandwiches at Tim Hortons in Canada to the announcement of the Beyond Burrito at Del Taco.
Partnerships with fast-food restaurants will continue to be important. Demand is soaring for plant-based meat alternatives, and it hasn’t shown any signs of slowing. Analysts have estimated that the market could grow to be $140 billion in the next decade.
While plant-based burgers like the Beyond Burger cost more than animal proteins such as beef, it appears that consumers are willing to pay the difference.
Competition for the market, and for partners, is heating up. Partnerships secured by competitors have damaged Beyond's stock. It slid when The Meatless Farm, a British plant-based meat-alternatives company, reached a deal with Whole Foods and on the news that Taco Bell would not include plant-based meat alternatives on its menu.
Here are the top high-profile restaurant and food partnerships Beyond Meat has announced to date:
1. Subway
Subway is jumping on the plant-based meat craze as well. Wednesday, the chain announced that it would partner with Beyond Meat to launch a Beyond Meatball Marinara sub. The sandwich will be avialable in 685 locations in the US and Canada in September.
2. Dunkin' Brands
Beyond Meat and Dunkin' on Wednesday announced a partnership to launch Beyond Sausage breakfast sandwiches. The sandwiches were immediately available in Dunkin' restaurants in New York City's Manhattan borough.
3. Blue Apron
Shares of Blue Apron gained when the company announced that it would include Beyond Meat products in its recipes. The food-delivery service plans to have two recipes this summer that feature the Beyond Burger.
4. Famous Dave's
The barbecue restaurant Famous Dave's gained 10% when it announced that it was partnering with Beyond Meat to create and test plant-based proteins for its menu. The company has said the new menu items will be available to test mid-August.
5. Tim Hortons
Beyond Meat's stock rocketed up as much as 12% when Tim Hortons announced that its plant-based meat alternatives would be available in breakfast sandwiches across Canada.
6. Del Taco
Del Taco launched the Beyond Taco in April, and after its success the chain expanded its partnership with Beyond Meat in June to include the Beyond 8 Layer Burrito and the Epic Beyond Cali Burrito across the US.
7. A&W
A&W Canada has also expanded its relationship with Beyond Meat. After the success of the A&W Beyond Meat Burger, the company rolled out the Sausage & Egger using Beyond sausage. The sandwiches are available across locations in Canada.
8. TGI Fridays
TGI Fridays offers Beyond Meat's "bleeding" veggie burger on menus as an alternative to beef patties.
9. Bareburger
Beyond Meat lists its partnership with Bareburger on its corporate site. Bareburger also offers the Impossible Burger from Impossible Foods, a main competitor to Beyond Meat.
10. BurgerFi
BurgerFi launched a Beyond Meat burger in eight of its 101 locations in July.
11. Carl's Jr.
Carl's Jr. offers a Beyond Meat burger on its menu. The chain even gave away free meatless burgers from Beyond Meat to celebrate Beyond Meat's 10th birthday and its listing on the public market.
