Beyond Meat has SPAM envy

Oatly AB (publ)

05/08/2022 16:30

(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist.  The opinions
expressed are their own.)
    TORONTO, Aug 5 (Reuters Breakingviews) - The idea of
shelling out extra cash for sustainable products is all well and
good, until the economy turns. Plant-based meat company Beyond
Meat  BYND.O  on Thursday posted https://investors.beyondmeat.com/news-releases/news-release-details/beyond-meatr-reports-second-quarter-2022-financial-results
 a second-quarter net loss of $97.1 million, widening from a
year ago, and lowered its revenue outlook for the full year.
Founder and Chief Executive Ethan Brown recognizes that when
wallets are pinched, going above for Beyond isn’t in the cards.
 
    Record-high inflation – up 9.1% in the United States in
June— is becoming a problem. Brown said on the call that U.S.
ground beef costs roughly $4.90 a pound. Beyond is more than $3
higher. Meantime SPAM, a processed pork product whose
ingredients also include potato starch, sugar, and sodium
nitrite, is having a “record year”, Brown said https://www.fool.com/earnings/call-transcripts/2022/08/05/beyond-meat-inc-bynd-q2-2022-earnings-call-transcr.
    Beyond isn’t the only alternative food company that is
struggling. Shares of Swedish oat drink maker Oatly  OTLY.O ,
for instance, have roughly halved year-to-date, while the stock
price of companies that sell cheaper, pantry-friendly items,
like Campbell Soup  CPB.N  and Kellogg  K.N , are up. As
inflationary pain spreads, canned pork crumbles on a salad start
to look more appealing than pea protein. For Brown, the same
goes for his stock. (By Sharon Lam)
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 (Editing by Lauren Silva Laughlin and Streisand Neto)
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