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Based on the Beyond Meat Case Analysis. Please provide feedback…
Based on the Beyond Meat Case Analysis. Please provide feedback about what you would liked about this analysis and do you agree or disagree with it? In paragraph form. Below is the case analysis.
Beyond Meat Overview
The discussion on a more sustainable and environmentally friendly future is becoming more prevalent. One company, Beyond Meat, is taking on these efforts by offering plant-based meat that mimics the texture and taste of animal-based meat, with its product line including plant-based burgers, beef, sausage, and meatballs (Beyond Meat, n.d.). The product’s ingredients include pea protein, coconut oil, and potato starches to give a balanced variety of macronutrients (Beyond Meat, n.d.). The main goal for Beyond Meat is to continuously improve its products so that they are indistinguishable from animal-based counterparts (Beyond Meat, 2022). To capitalize on the global meat industry, Beyond Meat continually develops three core plant-based product platforms that align with the largest meat categories globally: beef, pork, and poultry (Beyond Meat, 2022). Essentially, the company is creating plant-based products using proprietary scientific processes that determine the architecture of the animal-based meat, seeking to replicate and assemble their product using plant-derived amino acids, lipids, carbohydrates, trace minerals, and water. (Beyond Meat, 2022).
Furthermore, the company’s main headquarters and manufacturing locations are predominately within the United States (U.S.), with additional locations and subsidiaries in China, Canada, and the Netherlands (GlobalData, n.d.). The company’s revenue has increased by approximately fifty-six percent since 2019 due to fast growth in fresh meat sales from retail outlets, restaurants, and food service chains (Forbes, 2021). Currently, future projections for plant-based meat could look better, with production volumes of plant-based meats down twenty-two consecutive months as of November 2022 (Creswell, 2022).
Mission Statement
Beyond Meat’s mission statement correctly identifies the identity in which it’s trying to move its company and products; it states, “We believe there is a better way to feed our future. By shifting from animal to plant-based meat, we can positively affect the planet, the environment, the climate, and even ourselves. After all, the positive choices we make every day – no matter how small – can have a great impact on our world” (Beyond Meat, n.d.). In essence, a mission statement should not only broadly charts the future direction of an organization but also serves as a constant reminder to its employees why the organization exists and what the founders envisioned, which is what Beyond Meat capitalizes on within its own mission statement (David & David, 2017). In addition, it reinforces the purpose of why Beyond Meat offers an alternative to animal-based meat. It conveys the future they perceive: a world more environmentally friendly due to their products.
Company Goals
Research, development, and innovation are core elements of Beyond Meat’s business strategy, which they believe represents a critical competitive advantage for the company (Beyond Meat, 2022). Through their Beyond Meat Rapid and Relentless Innovation Program, their scientists and engineers focus on improving the existing product formulations and developing new products across their plant-based beef, pork, and poultry platforms (Beyond Meat, 2022). Their Manhattan Beach Project Innovation Center in El Segundo, California, capitalizes on this goal. By bringing together leading scientists in chemistry, biology, material science, food science, and biophysics with process engineers and culinary specialists (Beyond Meat, 2022). Through this project center, Beyond Meat aims to develop at least one new project every year (Beyond Meat, 2022).
Moreover, the company aims to be more environmentally efficient than competitors that process animal-based meat. By shifting from animal-based meat to plant-based protein, Beyond Meat claims to positively impact four growing global issues: human health, climate change, constraints on natural resources, and animal welfare (Beyond Meat, 2022). The University of Michigan compared the Beyond Burger production system to a traditional beef production system. The results of the study found that the Beyond Burger generates ninety percent less greenhouse gas emissions, has a ninety-nine percent less impact on water scarcity, uses forty-six percent less non-renewable energy, and has ninety-three percent less impact on land use than a quarter pound of U.S. beef (Heller & Keoleian, 2018). These findings demonstrate the impact Beyond Meat has on the environment compared to its competitors, reinforcing its mission of remaining environmentally friendly.
Industry
Within Beyond Meat’s industry, classified as specialty frozen foods, there are two main competitors: Tyson Foods Incorporated and Impossible Foods. First, Tyson produces animal-based protein foods through a wide range of fresh and frozen products (Tyson Foods, Inc., 2022). Its products are marketed and sold directly to grocery retailers, grocery wholesalers, meat distributors, warehouse club stores, military commissaries, industrial food processing companies, and chain restaurants (Tyson Foods, Inc., 2022). Second, Impossible Foods is very similar to Beyond Meat. They address the threat of climate change caused by animal agriculture by inventing plant-based alternatives to meat, fish, and dairy products that use less land, water, and energy in production (CNBC, 2022). The company sells through approximately 25,000 grocery stores and claims to be in more than 40,000 restaurants than any other plant-based brand, including the United States, United Arab Emirates, Australia, and New Zealand (CNBC, 2022).
Moreover, Tyson is a well-established competitor to Beyond Meat, even though it processes animal-based meat compared to Beyond Meat’s plant-based. The fact that both companies predominately operate within the United States and target almost exclusively grocery retailers and chain restaurants indicates why Tyson is a close competitor. Not to mention, Beyond Meat’s mission statement is in clear opposition to Tyson’s operations in that they view Tyson’s processes of animal-based meat as a threat to the well-being of the environment. On the other hand, Impossible Foods aims to be in tandem with its mission and product line. For example, while the Impossible Burger remains its flagship product, the lineup has been proliferating within the past year, with the introduction of the Impossible Sausage, Impossible Chicken Nuggets, Impossible Meatballs, and Impossible Pork, all of which have led to an expanded presence in Walmart, Trader Joe’s, and Costco (CNBC, 2022). Similarly, Impossible Foods is a close competitor to Beyond Meat in their ability to tap into grocery retailers and chain restaurants, not to mention the two companies’ relative sizing.
Market Structure
The market structure of which Beyond Meat is in is the monopolistic competition structure. Monopolistic competition is a market structure where many companies are present in an industry, producing similar but differentiated products (CFI, 2022). Beyond Meat and its two main competitors reflect this definition in that they process their finished products similarly in the end; however, each company embarks on its processes differently. For example, Tyson processes animal-based meat into the final product, whether hamburgers or hotdogs. On the other hand, though identical in the fact that it processes plant-based meat, Impossible Foods still processes its products differently than Beyond Meat. Unlike Impossible Foods, Beyond Meat does not use synthetic ingredients to create its plant-based meat products, whereas Impossible Foods is entirely based on the genetic modification of ingredients and proteins (Wishpond Blog, 2022).
