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Beyond has dropped “meat” from its name and expanded its high-protein drink line

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Re: Beyond has dropped “meat” from its name and expanded its high-protein drink line

#121

Post by skeeter2020 »

xethos wrote: post #86
AngryData wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Im calling BS on the $30-$40 a pound beef because ive raised my own cows for personal consumption and even if I paid myself $20 an hour for every second I spent with my cows, and assumed my alfalfa field usage could produce an expensive cash crop without fertilizer, and completely ignored the opportunity loss of only caring for 1-2 cows instead of 30+, that is still a cost WAY above what my beef costs.

Without taking a side, you've skipped every step past the field here. Transportation, butchering, packaging, and grocery store shelves, with profit margins, health / sanitation checks, and shrinkage at every step

not sure where the GP lives but in Canada even beef raised for personal consumption needs to meet most of those things you've listed, aside from grocery-related, and as someone who's bought directly from the producer (with 3rd party butchering) the price is not substantially lower than retail; scale likely makes up for a lot of the commercial supply chain costs.

Re: Beyond has dropped “meat” from its name and expanded its high-protein drink line

#122

Post by gpm »

627467 wrote: post #106

Lets be real: unless fake-meat products become at least the same price as equivalent meat options whats the point? How big is the market for non-ideological vegans/vegetarians that are shopping for meat alternatives? Most people are not ideological with their food. Most people will only stop eating meat when it becomes too expensive to afford. Simple as that. What is the status you gain for being seen eating a beyond…

As a rare non-ideological vegetarian (I just really don't like the taste) you've got the market for this completely backwards. Beyond meat is for ideological vegetarians and vegans who like the taste. Non-ideological ones who would really prefer not to have a meat substitute.

At something like 6% of the world the market the population of ideological vegetarians and vegans is huge. With another handful of percent who are ideologically opposed to eating meat on certain days but not entirely vegetarian.

PS. Your claim that "most people are not ideologic with their food"... Not all food ideology is related to vegetarianism so it's not terribly relevant but I think this claim is just wrong. Islam + Hinduisim + Buddhism make up nearly half the world and all have pretty strong religious ideological beliefs about food, and a non-trivial fraction of the quarter of the world that is christian has at least a few scruples like avoiding meat during lent. And that's just people preaching religious beliefs not less documented ideologies like believing real men eat their steak raw or whatever.

Re: Beyond has dropped “meat” from its name and expanded its high-protein drink line

#123

Post by tdb7893 »

Grimblewald wrote: post #11

I always wondered who their demographic was. The core early adopters, the ethical vegans, who actually like the taste of plants are never going to make a lab made ultra processed salt bomb their daily driver (never mind issues surrounding industrial agriculture). Health-conscious folks would take one look at the ingredient list and bail because of the heavy processing and industrial fillers. You've got bodybuilders a…

There's no reason ethical vegans wouldn't go for ultra-processed foods. Beyond Meat just isn't a great option, it's expensive and not good enough to justify it. The selling point for them seems to be that they taste more like meat than most meat substitutes but as someone who has been vegan for a while that doesn't matter to me (unless I'm trying to match a non-vegan recipe). I get Morningstar Farms products vastly more often than Beyond Meat ones. Beyond and Impossible are maybe like my 4th and 5th most bought meat imitation brands and it's not like those other brands are less salty or processed. Idk why I only ever hear non-vegans mention Beyond and Impossible.

Re: Beyond has dropped “meat” from its name and expanded its high-protein drink line

#124

Post by jmkr »

subpixel wrote: post #99

The beyond patties at Costco are a decent price. Standard retail prices are not so great. I like em but I think the idea of them being somehow premium doesn’t translate.

Costco and similar do have them at a decent price, currently see them 20$ for 10. I think most people just look at the 2 packs, which are more expensive.

Re: Beyond has dropped “meat” from its name and expanded its high-protein drink line

#125

Post by strken »

AngryData wrote: post #83
thewebguyd wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> IMO the core problem is that meat is so heavily subsidized that it's hard for them to compete. This is the real problem. Without all the government subsidies, a pound of ground beef would be closer to $30-$40 today instead of the $8-$10/lb it is now. $38 billion dollars in the US each year to subsidize meat and dairy, but only $17 million goes to fruit and vegetable farmers. It's completely backwards, especially co…

Im calling BS on the $30-$40 a pound beef because ive raised my own cows for personal consumption and even if I paid myself $20 an hour for every second I spent with my cows, and assumed my alfalfa field usage could produce an expensive cash crop without fertilizer, and completely ignored the opportunity loss of only caring for 1-2 cows instead of 30+, that is still a cost WAY above what my beef costs.

Yeah, it's absolute nonsense. I'm paying $34/kg for direct-to-consumer beef in Australia, a country with some of the lowest agricultural subsidies in the world, including delivery and at a premium markup, during a time that beef prices have hit a historical high due to processor capacity, and I'm getting prime cuts and roasts too, not just mince.

Re: Beyond has dropped “meat” from its name and expanded its high-protein drink line

#126

Post by 627467 »

gpm wrote: post #122
627467 wrote: post #106

Lets be real: unless fake-meat products become at least the same price as equivalent meat options whats the point? How big is the market for non-ideological vegans/vegetarians that are shopping for meat alternatives? Most people are not ideological with their food. Most people will only stop eating meat when it becomes too expensive to afford. Simple as that. What is the status you gain for being seen eating a beyond…

As a rare non-ideological vegetarian (I just really don't like the taste) you've got the market for this completely backwards. Beyond meat is for ideological vegetarians and vegans who like the taste. Non-ideological ones who would really prefer not to have a meat substitute. At something like 6% of the world the market the population of ideological vegetarians and vegans is huge. With another handful of percent who…

> Beyond meat is for ideological vegetarians and vegans who like the taste.

I must be in bubble or have a very different definition of "idiological": of the dozens of vegans/vegetarians I know none would actively seek the "taste" of industrialized "ready-made" "meat replacement". They may put up with it if must be, but seek it? Desire it?

Re: Beyond has dropped “meat” from its name and expanded its high-protein drink line

#127

Post by stackghost »

jfengel wrote: post #12

That's too bad. I don't expect fake-meats to be healthy, or cheap, but I like that they can be made without killing animals and without raising them in inhumane conditions. I had really hoped that people would say, "Well, if it tastes close enough, then how about I go for the cruelty-free version." And it is close-enough -- it's at least as good as a fast-food hamburger. Perhaps the cognitive dissonance is just too m…

>And it is close-enough -- it's at least as good as a fast-food hamburger.

It's not, though. Vegans that I know always proselytize about how "you can't even tell the difference" but I can tell the difference.

I don't understand the weird vegan obsession with eating fake food. Edible oil product "vegan cheese" and other junk.

If you want to eat meat, eat it. If you don't, don't. You do you, but don't try to sell me on disgusting fake food.

Re: Beyond has dropped “meat” from its name and expanded its high-protein drink line

#128

Post by bsjshshsb »

paxys wrote: post #15
3rodents wrote: post #7

I disagree with the idea that it's "not the moment for plant-based meat". Beyond Meat has a fantastic product that does very well in lots of markets. The problem is that Beyond Meat the company was valued as some sort of once in a generation radical reimagining of the way we eat. Beyond Meat's product is not going to change the world, it's just a good product. If Beyond Meat had grown organically, instead of raising…

Yup, the product is fine, but there's a reason all the other brands in the freezer aisle aren't raising hundreds of millions of dollars at 100x multiples. Burgers don't scale like smartphone apps. Here's a comparison - Tyson Foods, best known for their frozen meat, had a revenue of $54.44 billion last year. Their current market cap is $21.77 billion. Beyond Meat reported an annual revenue of $87.9 million in their 20…

I was having trouble understanding the issue then I realized 87.9 MILLion with an M. Ok I see lol.

Re: Beyond has dropped “meat” from its name and expanded its high-protein drink line

#129

Post by tombert »

xenospn wrote: post #104
dmitrygr wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm sure that's due to depressing subsidies Based on what data do you make such unsubstantiatable statements?

It’s not exactly a secret that farmers are highly subsidized and without it beef would be extremely expensive. Same in every country, pretty much.

You know, I am actually having trouble substantiating that.

I was just parroting what I heard but doing a search I found a bunch of posts claiming that subsidies don’t actually affect the price that much, and I cannot find a primary source for the $30/pound figure I have always heard.

Re: Beyond has dropped “meat” from its name and expanded its high-protein drink line

#130

Post by slfnflctd »

scythe wrote: post #111
mschild wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Based on my bubble, vegans, vegetarians, and meat eaters that do want to decrease their meat consumption. At this point, in Germany at least, discounter brands like Lidl and Aldi have beaten Beyond Meat at their game though. They produce alternatives that taste as good or better, for significantly less money.

Yeah, I never understood what Beyond's core innovation was. Impossible had that whole synthetic heme thing going on. Beyond seemed almost like opportunistic mimicry. But Impossible turned out to be pretty expensive IIRC.

In my opinion as a mostly-vegetarian who used to adore burgers as a kid, the Impossible brand was by far the most realistic (and my beef-loving partner would agree, they made stroganoff with it and loved it)... but the price truly is ridiculous at this point. It started out just barely justifiable, and it's simply too high now.

I am more than a little bit outraged that animals who were raised in miserable industrial production facilities to meet an ugly end are having their parts sold for less than a decent alternative simply because of subsidies distorting the market.

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