Consumer interest is dropping off in meat-alternatives. Is it the quality? Taste? Overhyped? Would the Greens be better focused on making good vegetarian dishes rather than trying to replace / replicate meat?
FOOD & BEVERAGE The plant-based food industry is facing a reset as Beyond Meat and Oatly shares suffer
Wall Street appears to be souring on plant-based substitutes.
Shares of Beyond Meat and Oatly have shed more than half their value this year. The stocks are both high-profile and relative recent entrants to public markets, prone to big jumps and sharp declines in value, volatility that’s only been exacerbated by broader market swings and pressure from short sellers.
Beyond Meat trades 87% below its all-time high, and Oatly, which will mark its first anniversary as a public company on Friday, trades more than 80% below its debut price.
Industry experts say the declines may mark an inevitable shakeout as investor optimism meets reality.
After years of climbing sales, consumer interest in meat alternatives is waning. Retail sales of plant-based meat were roughly flat in the 52 weeks ended April 30 compared with the year-ago period, according to Nielsen data. Total volume of meat substitutes has fallen 5.8% over the last 52 weeks, market research firm IRI found.
“We’ve seen this in many categories in the past that take off. They have a shakeout period,” Kellogg CEO Steve Cahillane said in early May on the company’s earnings call.