Beyond Meat adds Beyond Beef to its meat alternative range

Beyond Meat has added a new product to its meat alternative range called Beyond Beef, a plant-based alternative to ground beef.

According to Beyond Meat, Beyond Beef replicates the taste, texture and versatility of ground beef, but with the added health and sustainability benefits of a plant-based meat alternative.

Made with a blend of mung bean, pea and rice protein, Beyond Beef has 25% less saturated fat than conventional ground beef, containing approximately 6g of saturated fat and 20g of protein per serving.

Beyond Beef can used in a range of applications as a substitute for ground beef, including tacos, meatballs, sliders, empanadas and more, and the product contains no antibiotics, hormones, soy, gluten or genetically modified organisms.

Beyond Meat says that the product will be released in retailers nationwide in the US later this year.

Ethan Brown, founder and CEO of Beyond Meat, said: “We’ve long had our eye on creating a product that enables consumers to enjoy all the benefits and versatility of ground beef while tapping into the human health, environmental, and animal welfare benefits of plant-based foods.

“As is our commitment, we’ve built this latest addition to our family of plant-based meats while being thoughtful about ingredient choices that support everyday use by the whole family, including strict avoidance of GMOs, soy, or gluten.”

Beyond Meat rose to prominence with the release of the plant-based Beyond Burger, and has since drawn investment from major meat companies such as Tyson Foods and from prominent figures such as Leonardo DiCaprio.

In November last year, the company announced its intention to go public an IPO worth $100 million, as the company aimed to capitalise on the rapid growth of its plant-based meat alternative portfolio.

Meat alternatives are becoming increasingly popular, with many consumers opting for plant-based products due to health and sustainability concerns, and a number of major food company’s are seeking to capitalise on the trend.

In January, Nestlé announced plans to introduce a plant-based, meat-free burger in the spring called the ‘Incredible Burger’, which is set to rival other meat alternatives such as the Beyond Burger and the Impossible Burger, while companies such as Aleph Farms – which released what it claimed is ‘the world’s first’ cell-grown minute steak – are opting for lab-grown meat as another method of ethnically-producing protein.