4/12/2026 at 6:40:32 PM
How come they are not able to make a profit? They have more and more competitors, ok, but surely the competitors are not rushing to also lose money, it seems that there is profit to be made. Why were they not able to optimise their costs over the years?"the price gap between more-expensive meat alternatives and the real thing kept widening since 2022, to $4.20 per pound in 2024" That's quite surprising, what could be the reasons?
by pingou
4/13/2026 at 12:10:03 AM
They are not able to make a profit because vegetarians are in the category of what we call "conscious eaters". This category includes people who take their diet seriously, look at the ingredient labels, and try to avoid highly processed foods. Of course it's not only vegetarians, people on carnivore diets and other healthy diets are also conscious eaters, but what unites the entire segment is an aversion to highly processed factory foods, of which Beyond Meat is the poster-child.So the real market for Beyond Meat would be "casual eaters" -- people who don't look at the label too much, but then this market is going to be sensitive to taste and price, which are Beyond Meat's weaknesses.
So basically problems with product-market fit.
by carefree-bob
4/12/2026 at 7:19:35 PM
Are competitors doing well? It's really a bit of a weird product category - not really appealing to vegetarians or meat eaters. Who are they marketing it to?by HarHarVeryFunny
4/12/2026 at 7:21:32 PM
People who eat meat but feel bad about it, apparently.This is an extremely loud online group but apparently barely exists in real life.
by bombcar
4/12/2026 at 10:07:58 PM
So, like most extremely loud online groups then?by europeanNyan
4/12/2026 at 7:37:29 PM
For an international perspective, I can tell you that their competitors are doing very well in my corner of Europe, but the competitions quality is 10x-100x that of Beyond.People buy competitors products because they are simply legitimately fine tasting products on their own, no vegetarian vs meat marketing required.
Beyond just has shit product, even if they genuinely were the first to develop the technology.
by FabCH
4/12/2026 at 8:42:10 PM
I guess I just don't get it. Obviously there's a decent sized market for vegetarian convenience food, but the meat-based branding, and attempts to copy texture/flavor of meat products would seem a turn off for that market. Good flavors and mouth feel (not tofu!) are important, but why explicitly try to copy meat unless meat eaters are the market you are targeting?It'd make more sense to me to have different products/brands/advertising for different market segments. For the meat eaters the marketing would be "healthy/cheap, tastes just like beef/chicken" (which seems to be what Beyond Meat are going for), and for the vegetarians "delicious flavors, plant based, high in protein" (not "fake beef").
by HarHarVeryFunny
4/13/2026 at 3:27:03 AM
> I guess I just don't get itImagine you liked something, then realized that thing was bad and you didn't want to do it anymore. Then somebody offered you an alternative without the ethical problems.
I ate meat for like 30 years, then as I learned more about the realities of the meat industry in the US (suffering of animals, development of antibiotic resistant bacteria, pollution of air and water, exploitation and harm to workers, etc) I decided I couldn't buy meat anymore. I like having burgers and sausages and such, and Beyond meat gives me something that tastes good, is easy to cook, fits into a healthy diet.
by Newlaptop
4/12/2026 at 10:28:13 PM
> Good flavors and mouth feel (not tofu!) are importantas one of those vegetarians who isn't particularly compelled by anything intentionally imitating meat, this is always somewhat funny to me. tofu already has good flavor and mouthfeel if prepared well, and presumably the rest of this alleged market segment is as capable of preparing tofu adequately as i am personally. so even if beyond was to pivot to (also) being beyond tofu, i fail to see how that would capture appreciably more of the market.
i could be wrong, but it's always seemed to me that most of the apparent demand for something better than tofu is not in fact coming from inside the house.
by nagaiaida
4/13/2026 at 6:12:21 AM
May you share a recipe or two?I love tofu too but mostly buy pre-prepared ones, open and bite it cold (yummy !) My current favorites are the "dried" Taifun like their Japanese Style.
https://www.taifun-tofu.de/en/products/tofu-filets-japanese-...
by aziaziazi
4/12/2026 at 11:15:23 PM
>not really appealing to vegetarians or meat eatersWhy not? I'm a vegetarian/vegan for a long while now (I started during covid) and I enjoy fake meat burger or as protein in my meal once in a while. Same goes or my girlfriend. I assume most (ethical) vegetarians are in the same boat. I am a former meat eater, I enjoy the taste of meat.
FWIW vegan meat substitutes are popular and getting even more popular here (EU country). For example all burger places and many regular restaurants have something similar on the menu. I avoid beyond though, it's always the most expensive option, without quality to justify it.
by localuser13
4/12/2026 at 11:57:48 PM
Vegetarian and vegan menu options are extremely common here in the US too, but I'd say not so much these meat substitute products at fast food places. One of the big chains (Burger King? McDonalds?) had a Beyond burger when it first came out, but otherwise you need to avoid the big chains and may find a veggieburger on the menu, just called that - a veggie patty of some nature, not pretending to be meat. You can buy Quorn etc products in all the supermarkets.by HarHarVeryFunny
4/13/2026 at 1:11:21 AM
Its really only useful as a fast food, which is not healthy, and if you're gonna eat unhealthy why not just eat meat.by Throaway199999