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Beyond Meat (BYND) to Roll-Out Beyond Meatballs at Walmart

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With the rising popularity of plant-based meat options, Beyond Meat, Inc. (BYND - Free Report) continues to expand its product offerings at retail outlets globally as well as engage in prudent innovations. Well, the company is taking its product expansion spree at Walmart Inc. (WMT - Free Report) a step further. From June, Beyond Meatballs will be available across 2,100 Walmart stores, wherein Beyond Meat products are already sold. Apart from this, the company will be offering free samples of certain products across Walmart stores in SoCal and Dallas. These moves form part of Beyond Meat’s efforts to make plant-based meat options easily accessible to consumers. Let’s take a closer look.

Product Expansion Efforts Are Encouraging

Beyond Meatballs were first introduced in retail stores in September 2020. Developed with a signature blend of Italian spices, these ready-to-cook meatballs deliver an authentic Italian flavor, but with 30% less saturated fat and sodium. The product’s roll out across Walmart stores is likely to add greater popularity and customer access.

This marks the second major expansion of Beyond Meat products at Walmart in 2021. Earlier this year, the company launched Beyond Sausage Hot Italian and Cookout Classic across Walmart stores. Prior to this, the company expanded its offerings at Walmart to include Beyond Burger and Beyond Sausage in the fresh meat aisle, while the Beyond Breakfast Sausage patties were added in the freezer aisle.

By expanding its partnership with Walmart, the company expects to meet the rising demand for plant-based meat products as well as unlock new potentials in this space. Moreover, Beyond Meat is expected to benefit from Walmart’s deep rooted and widespread presence in the retail sector.

Additionally, the company stated that it will offer free samples of certain Beyond Meat products across Walmart stores in SoCal and Dallas. Consumers shopping at Walmart can look for the Beyond Meat food truck, which will be popping up in the parking lot of neighborhood stores. The free samples include products like Beyond Sausage and the newest iteration of the iconic Beyond Burger. Notably, the new Beyond Burger version contains 20g of protein along with 35% less fat and 35% less saturated fat compared with ground beef. Moreover it contains B vitamins and minerals and has fewer calories and no cholesterol.

Beyond Meat prides on being a leading provider of healthy plant-based meat alternatives whose products are made from simple ingredient and contain no GMOs or bioengineered components. Its products are sold at approximately 118,000 retail and foodservice outlets in more than 80 countries worldwide. We note that the company has been undertaking prudent measures to boost production and distribution capacity across Europe, China, Australia and other key markets globally. Additionally, the company is expanding its distribution capabilities by teaming up with companies like The Kroger Co. (KR - Free Report) , Whole Foods Market, Harris Teeter and Albertsons to name a few.

When it comes to bolstering product offerings, we note that Beyond Meat has been actively undertaking innovations. This year, the company teamed up with Yum! Brands to develop exclusive plant-based products. The company also partnered with PepsiCo, Inc. (PEP - Free Report) to form a new joint-venture entity — The PLANeT Partnership, LLC. The venture seeks to develop, produce and market innovative plant-based protein snacks and beverages.

Wrapping Up

Beyond Meat has been struggling with a weak foodservice business for a while. This Zacks Rank #4 (Sell) company’s foodservice channel has been adversely impacted by sluggish food-away-from-home trends amid the coronavirus pandemic. This was evident in first-quarter 2021 results, with sales from this channel declining 26% in the United States and 44% in International regions. Moreover, the company has been grappling with higher operating expenses such as transportation, warehouse and freight costs among others. We note that shares of the company have declined 40.2% in the past three months against the industry’s growth of nearly 1%.

Nevertheless, a strong retail channel has continued to be a key upside for the company, owing to favorable demand trends. Moreover, the company’s sturdy product offerings and partnerships have been yielding results and are likely to keep it well positioned for growth.

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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