Plant-based Meat Is Talk of the Menu

ALEXANDRIA, Va.—In 2016, Tyson jumped into the plant-based meat market by investing in Beyond Meat. The company sold its stake a few months ago, but now Tyson plans to roll out its first plant-based and blended meat products, Forbes reports.

Unveiled last month, Tyson’s Raised and Rooted brand includes plant-based nuggets and burgers made with a combination of beef and plants. Tyson Foods is the largest U.S. meat producer to enter the alternative protein segment, which underscores the strong demand for such products. 

The number of U.S. consumers who identify as vegan grew from 1% to 6% between 2014 and 2017, a 600% increase, according to GlobalData. But Raised and Rooted products are about much more than veganism. One-third of Americans are “flexitarians”—someone who combines plant-based and meat-based diets—and that’s the sweet spot Tyson is going for.

Beyond Meat and Impossible Burger have made headlines for their unique plant-based properties that enable them to look and taste like real meat, but Tyson is taking a hybrid approach with its Blend burger, which combines Angus beef and peas. While it may seem contradictory to mix meat into alternative protein products, Tyson is intentional with its approach. Tyson’s traditional meat business generated $40 billion in sales in 2018, and as Noel White, CEO of Tyson, explained in a press release, “for us, this is about ‘and’—not ‘or.’

This approach may give Tyson an edge in the market.

“Our data points show that 75% of consumers are open to looking to diets that include both meat and plant-based,” said Jen Bentz, senior vice president of R&D, Tyson. “The demand for protein, animal or otherwise, has never been higher. We will see that continue to grow."

Meanwhile, Arby’s has its own answer to plant-based meat, a product the company’s president has declared off limits in its fast-food chain. In fact, according to the New York Times, Arby’s is going in the opposite direction. Rather than invest in non-meat alternatives, the chain has unveiled a product designed to poke fun at the meatless-meat craze: a carrot made from turkey.

Called the marrot, the carrot is not just a publicity stunt, but “it’s pretty funny,” said Rob Lynch, president, Arby’s. “We are actively working to determine whether or not we can scale this. I would probably put it at 50-50.”

This year has been an impressive one for Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods, with restaurant sales of meat alternatives up 268%. Many chains—including Burger King, Carl’s Jr., the Cheesecake Factory, Little Caesars and Qdoba—have introduced meatless meat products.

A few months ago, McDonald’s worked with Nestlé to test a meatless patty in Germany. But bringing a plant-based cheeseburger to the U.S. would not be easy right now, because the chain is trying to simplify its menu.

At the same time, Burger King is asking customers in Sweden to guess if their burger is real or imitation. According to CNBC, the chain is so confident the new plant-based burgers being offered in Sweden taste just like meat that it’s asking customers to order off a random menu and guess whether they’re eating real meat or an imitation. Curious customers must scan their box in the Burger King app to know for sure. Data from the guesses will be collected and used for ads set to run later this summer (regardless of how many guesses were correct or incorrect, the chain said).

But there have been problems. The media reported that a New York City location had been advertising and serving plant-based “Impossible Whoppers” that were in reality meat patties. In a statement, Burger King blamed “a technology error. The issue has been corrected and the item is no longer listed as an option until we officially bring the Impossible Whopper to New York. We apologize for any confusion this has caused.”

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