Why the vegan meat industry is in the red

On the day Beyond Meat became a publicly traded company in May 2019, its stock price shot up by a massive 163%. This was the best performance in a single day by any big American company in almost twenty years. This big jump clearly meant something important was going on. The sales of imitation meat grew by 74% between 2018 and 2021. This growth happened because of clever advertising and real worries about how producing regular meat harms the environment. As time went on, experts thought that these fake meat products would keep getting more popular. Beyond Meat’s leader, Ethan Brown, told investors that their profits had dropped by 31% compared to the previous year. This news made the company’s stock price fall by more than 10%. However, it’s not just Beyond Meat that’s having a tough time. The sales of plant-based meat went down by 1% in the United States in 2022. This happened after a year with no growth at all in 2021. Because of this decline, some people started saying that the market for vegan products had reached its highest point. Investors started to expect less. But even though fewer people seemed excited about meat alternatives, there’s still plenty of room for more plant-based proteins. The current batch of these alternative meats became popular when a lot of money was being put into new businesses, and people were really optimistic about new technology. But these plant-based meat companies aren’t technology startups, and the food business isn’t the same as the internet. When we look beyond the ups and downs of the industry’s popularity, it’s clear that many people — especially those outside of the United States — are still willing to eat more plant-based foods, especially if their governments encourage them. People also started to say that these plant-based foods are overly processed and not good for you. We don’t completely understand the science of how processed foods affect our health, but some folks have been using the “ultra-processed” label to criticize plant-based foods. These ideas that plant-based meats are unhealthy have started to influence what people think. But this isn’t completely fair. Most plant-based meat replacements are processed, but so are many of the meat products they’re meant to replace. While they might not be the healthiest option compared to things like lentils or peas, they do stack up pretty well against burgers, sausages, and other processed meats. They might not be super healthy, but the argument that they’re too processed isn’t a slam dunk. <a href="https://medium.com/@ronibatra345/why-the-vegan-meat-industry-is-in-the-red-6bc65a34ea9a">Website</a>