u/Enbounce

You can have the most tasty satisfying burger, dense with protein, plus fibre and other plant benefits, and it can be good for you, good for your heart. Great for anyone wanting to do a little better and great for high performance athletes. I think that is what really sold me on this investment. It is an incredible achievement. And the innovation continues.

This is Beyond’s reaction to the disinfo that harmed their industry and drove away customers. They evolved the products more rapidly. Now all of that work is coming together, right at this moment, under the new brand (revealed just a couple months ago). 

Certifications from the Clean Label Project, the American Heart Association, the American Diabetes Association, the Non-GMO Project,  the Detox Project (non-glyphosate). Products which conform to rigorous national recommended health standards of various countries, including Canada. Great european nutri-scores on package.

It is a strong approach. Meat that is fast to cook, tasty, nutritionally dense and ultra-healthy. This is the way towards wider adoption/scale and pricing power. 

And with all this now in place, Beyond is responsibly starting to promote the new brand. And Immerse is a great move, as it is without the baggage and could become a great (re)introduction to the whole brand. And no mother cow excretions brutally extracted for this clean clear protein!

The products will continue to improve, and new health benefits from plants will be unlocked. I believe we are at the beginning of something wonderful.

Clean label

• ““Earning Clean Label Project Certification across more than 20 products demonstrates Beyond Meat’s continued focus on transparency and product quality,” said Molly Hamilton, Executive Director of Clean Label Project. “Our program is designed to recognize brands that take proactive steps to evaluate and address contaminants in the products consumers rely on every day. These certifications underscore Beyond Meat’s commitment to accountability and exceeding the status quo.””
• https://investors.beyondmeat.com/news-releases/news-release-details/beyond-meatr-first-plant-based-meat-category-achieve-clean-label
• “CLP tests for a wide range of contaminants, depending on the product category. The standard panel includes bisphenols (A and S), glyphosate, heavy metals (arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury), pesticides (over 300 residues), and phthalates (BBP, DBP, DEHP, and DHP). Additionally, acrylamide testing is conducted for products that undergo heat processing during manufacturing.”
• https://cleanlabelproject.org/frequently-asked-questions-faq/

Ultra healthy 

• Do the Health Impacts of Ultra-Processed Foods Apply to Plant-Based Meat Alternatives?
• https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EAvabxz55qY&ra=m
• Description of the harmless process Beyond uses (Planting Change)
• https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fEThKT1MPKM

Reddit Q&A

During the Beyond reddit Q&A, Ethan answered my question regarding the healthiness of Beyond in a great way. https://www.reddit.com/user/BYNDOfficial/comments/1p29f4u/comment/npvsnz0/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=mweb3x&utm_name=mweb3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

Here is a part I feel is particularly relevant:

“Something felt particularly wrong and sinister about the campaigns that have convinced the majority of the population that our products are somehow processed and full of questionable ingredients, and that as a result, the products’ benefits are not available to them.  I’ll discuss this more later, but what kept coming to mind is that I hope we can help consumers think for themselves, versus believing a steady stream of misinformation. Some of new campaigns in ’26 will likely pick up on this theme in some fashion—think for yourself—we’ll encourage folks to read the label, look at the accreditations (i.e. various Clean Label Project, American Diabetes Association, American Heart Association, etc), so on and so forth.  We designed Beyond IV, Beyond Steak, Beyond Chicken pieces, and other products to drive health benefits, and to enable consumers to eat what they love—satiating protein—while feeling good about taking care of themselves.”

Ingredient lists

Check out some of the latest ingredient lists. They speak for themselves. Minimal, thoughtful ingredients. Nothing scary, just goodness. This is what consumers will see when they pick up one of these products today!

BEYOND IMMERSE PEACH MANGO

Carbonated Water, Hydrolyzed Pea Protein*, Soluble Tapioca Fiber, And Less Than 1% Of Tartaric Acid, Natural Flavors, Stevia Leaf Extract (Steviol Glycosides), Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C), Monk Fruit Extract, Mango Juice Concentrate, Citric Acid, Vegetable Juice Color.

Beyond Chicken Pieces: 

WATER, SOY PROTEIN, WHEAT GLUTEN, NATURAL FLAVORS, AVOCADO OIL, POTATO STARCH, 2% OR LESS OF PEA FIBER, POTASSIUM SALT, YEAST EXTRACT, ONION POWDER, SALT, SPICES, GARLIC POWDER.

BEYOND STEAK FILET

WATER, WHEAT GLUTEN, FABA BEAN PROTEIN, AVOCADO OIL, MYCELIUM, 2% OR LESS OF NATURAL FLAVORS, BROWN RICE POWDER, OAT BRAN, OAT FIBER, MALTED BARLEY, FLOUR, SALT, APPLE EXTRACT, SPICES, BEET JUICE COLOR, STARTER CULTURE, VINEGAR, GARLIC POWDER, ONION POWDER.

BEYOND STEAK TIPS

WATER, WHEAT GLUTEN, FABA BEAN PROTEIN, EXPELLER-PRESSED CANOLA OIL, SALT, NATURAL FLAVOR, AND LESS THAN 1% OF SPICE, GARLIC POWDER, ONION POWDER, POMEGRANATE CONCENTRATE, YEAST EXTRACT, SUNFLOWER LECITHIN, FRUIT AND VEGETABLE JUICE COLOR.

BEYOND SAUSAGE BREAKFAST PATTIES

Water, Yellow Pea Protein†, Avocado Oil, Brown Rice Protein, Natural Flavors, Dried Yeast, 2% or less of Methylcellulose, Potato Starch, Spices, Salt, Red Lentil Protein, Pea Starch, Potassium Salt, Faba Bean Protein, Apple Extract, Pea Fiber, Inulin, Lemon Juice Concentrate, Vinegar, Pomegranate Concentrate, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Vegetable Juice Color (with Beet).

BEYOND BURGER

Water, pea protein*, expeller-pressed canola oil, refined coconut oil, rice protein, natural flavors, dried yeast, cocoa butter, methylcellulose, and less than 1% of potato starch, salt, potassium chloride, beet juice color, apple extract, pomegranate concentrate, sunflower lecithin, vinegar, lemon juice concentrate, vitamins and minerals (zinc sulfate, niacinamide [vitamin B3], pyridoxine hydrochloride [vitamin B6], cyanocobalamin [vitamin B12], calcium pantothenate)

BEYOND GROUND

WATER, FABA BEAN PROTEIN, POTATO PROTEIN, PSYLLIUM HUSK.

Apologies if these documents have already been shared, but I wanted to post the engagement letter with Alix Partners (August 2025) along with the two addendums (November 2025). It gives a window into the restructuring work and the push towards profitability, with a goal of EBITDA positive by end of year. That will be a big day for the company. I am glad we are out of 2025, and I think that so much of the restructuring work done last year will pay off this year. Given all of the trouble in the world right now, all the better that Beyond has been engaged in this.

For added context, here is a quote from Ethan from the Q2 2025 earnings call:

“The reason that I wanted him [John Boken] to come on as interim manager of the business is to really drive two major outcomes. One is to get the operational footprint into the current revenue environment… in a way that doesn’t break things. And then the second is around margin. I wanted someone like John to… make sure that we can become EBITDA positive within the second half of next year.”

Part of the work involves “exiting certain product lines and reconfiguring others,” he added: “We are super focused on slowing the rate of cash burn… Bringing in John, I think, is a symbol of the level of urgency and seriousness that we’re placing on ensuring that we are able to drive out cost from the business as quickly as we can.”

At the EOY call in March, Ethan spoke of progress made:

“Stripping out these non-routine items and the impact of the transaction-related change in non-cash stock compensation, one can see that the run rate operating expense of our business is down considerably year-over-year.“…“our fourth quarter 2025 results reflect both continuing challenges in the category as well as substantial noise in our reported numbers due to, among other factors, several of our transformation initiatives. I will now turn to this transformation activity where we are encouraged by the progress of our transformation office led by our Interim Chief Transformation Officer, John Boken.

As I noted, we’ve seen further reduction in underlying operating expenses, excluding the non-routine items and transaction-related stock compensation increase for both the fourth quarter and full year 2025 on a year-over-year basis, and we are pursuing other cost reduction measures going forward. Also setting aside certain non-routine charges, we believe we are making progress against our goal to sustainably return to healthy gross margins. As previously shared, we’ve largely completed the consolidation of our production network and continue to improve asset utilization at our manufacturing facilities. Further, we’re now in the process of optimizing our new continuous production line at our facility in Columbia, Missouri, and are investing in automation. These and other measures are already showing up in a year-over-year improvement in conversion costs across our network, a key component of our COGS reduction initiatives.

Further, through our Transformation Office, we are seeking to reduce material costs through RFP actions, the cultivation of secondary sources, and formulation improvements. We are further consolidating our warehouse network and reducing logistics expenses. We are exiting less profitable product lines, and we are making substantial progress on driving down inventory. Finally, we remain very focused on cash management and have significantly reduced our baseline cash use in the fourth quarter compared to prior periods, excluding extraordinary items.”

Engagement Letter:

“Assist the Company in a collaborative effort to reach the target of an annualized EBITDA positive run rate by the fourth quarter of 2026, including achieving reductions in operating expenses, as categorized in the Company's income statement, intended to result in an annualized operating expenses run rate of [***] or less in a comparable time frame”

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1655210/000165521025000149/ex101beyondmeatengagemen.htm

Addendum 1

• Quantify the sales contribution and ROI / ROAS of each current marketing channel

• Determine the diminishing returns of each channel with a particular focus on shopper marketing

• Determine the optimal amount of spend by channel to maximize profitable sales

• Design a match-market test to validate hypotheses

https://contracts.justia.com/companies/beyond-meat-inc-5366/contract/1347393/

Addendum 2

• Refresh the promotional spend baseline, including focus of recent increases in Trade Spend

• Perform a comprehensive review of key account Trade Spend and isolate, identify, and analyze tail account spend, potential non-working Trade Spend leakage, promotion structuring, and other key Trade Spend considerations

• Prepare analyses for review with Company management and account leadership for discussion and assessment in workshop meetings

• Facilitate account workshops with Company management and account leadership to review and assess results and develop strategies and action plans to more effectively manage Trade Spend, measure results on a timely basis, and optimize investments

• Assist in assessing optimal future-state Commercial Operating Model, including organizational structure, resources, and governance

https://contracts.justia.com/companies/beyond-meat-inc-5366/contract/1347394/

$BYND