Looking at earnings reports and stock prices of from the past six months, it appears that the once red-hot plant-based meat sector has turned ice cold. As the Beyond Meat stock trading price plummeted 50% due to changes in consumer behavior, the once-hot sector is looking less appealing to investors. And Beyond Meat isn't the only publicly traded company to see recent problems. All of them including Canadian Maple Leaf Foods, Kellogg's MorningStar Farms, are in trouble.
Market experts state that when products like these come into the marketplace, they will attract an unusual number of curious triers. And if the products don't satisfy the consumer, they will say, 'Hey, that was interesting,' and they won't come back and buy it again. The International Food Information Council reports that 22% of Americans ate plant-based meat and dairy analogs in the past year. Sales statistics show downward trends.
Based on the recent developments in consumer behavior, we don't see the long-term —and growing— interest in plant-based meat. This trend is similar to the early electric vehicles. There was a lot of excitement and hype around them at the beginning, but it dropped off as investors and consumers realized that they couldn't deliver like gas-powered cars. Like e-vehicles, the plant-based meat hasn't come to the point where products are as good or better than those from traditional meat.
Good riddens.
Plant-based meat loses its sizzle in US as sales fall by Financial Times