Tyson Foods' Executive Vice President of Strategy and New Ventures & President of Foodservice, Monica McGurk stated, "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."
Based in Manhattan Beach, California, Beyond Meat sells plant-based burger patties, heat-and-eat meals and non-GMO soy and pea protein frozen foods at grocery chains such as Whole Foods Market, Publix and Safeway.
Beyond Meat will remain an independent, privately held company led by Founder and CEO Ethan Brown who said, "This investment by Tyson Foods underscores the growing market for plant protein. 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."
Other investors in the company include Bill Gates, the Humane Society of the United States, General Mills and venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins.
A group of 40 investors managing $1.25 trillion in assets launched a campaign in September asking 16 companies such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Unilever and Whole Foods to respond to the risks of industrial farming. Wal-Mart is Tyson's biggest customer, accounting for almost 17 percent of sales for the year ending Oct. 3, 2015.
The campaign followed an Oxford University study which said $1.5 trillion in healthcare and climate change-related costs could be saved by 2050 if people reduced their reliance on meat.
Source: Meatbusiness