Beyond Meat has brought in an external adviser in an effort to turn around the loss-making alt-meat business as it reported another decline in sales, plus job cuts.
Following a recent report that the California-based alternative-protein supplier plans to drop meat from its corporate name in a move away from mimicking animal-derived proteins, the company announced the appointment of a chief transformation officer on an interim basis.
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John Boken at consultancy AlixPartners was assigned to the job yesterday (6 August), an executive with “corporate turnaround and restructuring experience”, Beyond Meat said in its second-quarter results filing.
Those results showed revenue deteriorated further in the three months to 28 June across Beyond Meat’s sales channels, with the exception of foodservice in the US. Sales were down in both US and international retail, and the out-of-home segment in the latter.
Group sales revenue for the quarter for all divisions slid 19.6% to just shy of $75m, while volumes dropped 18.9%, led by US retail and international foodservice.
Net revenues are also expected to decline in the third quarter, with Beyond Meat estimating an end value of $68-73m.
Otherwise, founder, president and CEO Ethan Brown reiterated previous comments that he would not be providing guidance as 48 job cuts were announced in the US, 6% of the company’s total workforce.
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By GlobalData“The company continues to experience an elevated level of uncertainty within its operating environment, which has, and management believes could continue to have, unforeseen impacts on the company’s actual realised results,” Beyond Meat explained for the absence of an outlook.
Beyond Meat has not reported a net profit since the business went public in 2019. The loss for the second quarter of fiscal 2025 narrowed slightly to $33.2m from a $34.5m loss a year earlier.
The year-to-date loss was reported at $86.1m, compared to a corresponding loss of $88.4m.
There was a lack of positives elsewhere. Gross profit for the quarter shrank to $8.6m from $13.7m, with $1.7m of expenses incurred from the previously reported exit from China.
Operating losses widened to $38.8m from $33.9m. Adjusted EBITDA also remained in the red – $26m versus a $23m loss. And the associated margin blew out to a negative 34.7% from minus 24.7%.
“Q2 reinforces complexity of fundamentals,” John Baumgartner, a managing director at Mizuho Securities, headed up a follow-up research note.
“Combined with economic headwinds and stronger demand for animal meat, we are increasingly cautious about category growth prospects into 2026,” he said. “We view the appointment of an interim chief transformation officer via AlixPartners as a positive, but Beyond Meat remains engaged in a formidable bind between needing to drive revenue growth while expenses are reduced.”
US revenue amounted to $43.9m in the second quarter, down 20.4%. Retail dropped 26.7% to $32.9m, while out-of-home rose 6.8% to $11.1m.
For international, sales revenue decreased 18.4% to $30.9m. Retail fell 9.8% to $15.9m and foodservice retreated 25.8% to $15.1m.
Brown said: “We are disappointed with our second-quarter results, which primarily reflect ongoing softness in the plant-based meat category, particularly in the US retail channel and certain international foodservice markets.”
He added that Boken has been assigned to “more rapidly and aggressively reducing our operating expenses to fit anticipated near-term revenues; prioritising increased distribution of our core product lines; and investing in margin expansion initiatives across these core products”.
Mizuho’s Baumgartner suggested “it’s (still) tough out there” for Beyond Meat, with the “category lacking appeal and retailers making adjustments”.
Referring to Boken’s appointment and job cuts, he added: “We view the moves positively for the benefits to profit and cash burn, but it also serves as a reminder of the complexity of the situation; Beyond Meat needs revenue growth while resources are being whittled.”
