Beyond Meat Says Being Attacked Has Just Made It Stronger

Do you think they’re still doing a good job?

I do. I think they changed the narrative. I think they’ve taken something that’s a threat to them and characterized it in a negative way. I think people believe it, so I think it’s effective. Yes.

I’m in the UK and McDonald’s has been offering the McPlant burger with the Beyond patty for several years. Why was it discontinued in the United States?

Well. [Pauses.]

Without commenting specifically on McDonald’s – which I really don’t want to do – think about the fabric of America. You have [Michigan]you have South Carolina and Tennessee for the auto industry, right? These three states, plus several others, could be very powerful in Washington, D.C.

Now imagine there is a lobby in almost every state. The ag industry lobby, right? Animal Protein Hall. They have so much control over Washington. So we’re going to have a different environment in the U.S. in terms of our ability to communicate directly with consumers. In general, we do better for consumers in Europe than in the United States.

Speaking of Washington, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is Trump’s nominee secretary of health and human services. He is very much against processed food. How does Beyond fit into the Make America Healthy Again agenda?

Honestly, it should be at the forefront, and there are a few things that actually get me excited about some of the perspectives I hear.

first of all, you know nova system? This happens to include plant-based meats in the processed food category. It’s not the Sermon on the Mount or anything like that, it’s a group of people putting together a feature. We don’t belong to that party. We don’t want to be there. We are a food that goes through a series of steps to get to a result, but it’s a better process than what people go through when they eat factory-farmed meat.

If you look at the benefits to the human body and the environment, it’s a huge win. I believe we can communicate that difference to this administration.

The second work is from early in Kennedy’s career, the concept of restoring nature. Our ability to rewild much of the world’s landscapes is unparalleled. One statistic you should note is that our products use 93% less land to produce compared to animal-based protein. You can use that land, so not only are you removing the methane, but you can use the remaining land to rewild and remove carbon from the atmosphere.

Have you contacted RFK Jr.?

Not yet, but I’m looking forward to it.