The major US pork, chicken and beef company, Tyson Foods, has taken a 5% ownership stake in the plant-based protein producer, Beyond Meat.
The investment, placed through a fundraising initiative by Beyond Meat, is designed to provide additional capital to help the plant-based company expand its product portfolio and distribution.
“This investment by Tyson Foods underscores the growing market for plant protein,” said Beyond Meat’s founder and CEO, Ethan Brown. “I’m pleased to welcome Tyson as an investor and look forward to leveraging this support to broaden availability of plant protein choices to consumers.”
Tyson Foods’ executive vice president of strategy and new ventures, Monica McGurk, added: “We’re enthusiastic about this investment, which gives us exposure to a fast-growing segment of the protein market.
“It meets our desire to offer consumers choices and to consider how we can serve an ever-growing and diverse global population, while remaining focused on our core prepared foods and animal protein businesses.”
California-based Beyond Meat is a privately held company which says it is on the “cutting edge of plant protein innovation” with a mission to deliver the future of protein; allowing consumers to eat more, not less of the traditional dishes they love while feeling great about the health, sustainability and animal welfare benefits of plant protein. The company’s products are sold in over 11,000 US stores.
Arkansas-based Tyson Foods is a recognized market leader in pork, chicken and beef, as well as prepared foods, including bacon, breakfast sausage, turkey, lunchmeat, hot dogs, pizza crusts and toppings, tortillas and desserts. The company supplies retail and foodservice customers throughout the US and in approximately 130 different countries.
