Beyond Meat in China

Shares in Beyond Meat rose 3.5% on Thursday as the company announced it was expanding its retail sales of new products at major US chains Kroger, Target and Giant Foods. Beyond Meat also announced the opening of its first production facility outside the US, targeting the large and affluent Chinese market.

Beyond Meat (BYND) this week announced two pieces of good news for its investors and fans of plant-based protein products at once.

According to a Beyond Meat press release on Thursday, its new meatballs and sausages will now be available in 1,500 Kroger shops, the new products will also start being sold in 750 Target shops and 163 Giant Food shops. The vegetarian, plant-based Beyond Sausage will begin selling in more than 200 Super Target shops in May.

Sales of Cookout Classic burger patties will expand to more than 3,000 existing Beyond Meat retail partners nationwide during April and May.

Beyond Meat's revenues have fallen over the past two quarters and losses have increased. The company has had to spend more on packaging and reduce the prices of its in-store products as they are priced higher than real meat alternatives.

Beyond Meat emphasises that its products are more 'sustainable' and have no harmful ingredients such as GMOs, and cites research from Stanford University and the University of Michigan that speaks to the health benefits of switching from meat to Beyond Meat products.

This week Beyond Meat also announced the grand opening of its first plant outside the US in the Jiaxing Economic and Technological Development Zone (JXEDZ) near Shanghai.

The arrival of Beyond Meat's new state-of-the-art plant in China creates a major new source of revenue for the company, given its rich market of 1.4 billion people, and also reduces costs.

In its 7 April press release, Beyond Meat also announced that it would open its first own production facility in Europe this year, but did not disclose details.

Including Thursday's increase, Beyond Meat shares are up 7.9% since the start of 2021.