Beyond Meat’s recent foray into beverages is a logical move for a plant protein company and not an admission of defeat, CEO Ethan Brown told analysts after another weak quarter.
“We’re bringing our hard-fought expertise and capabilities, our commitment to health and clean ingredients and our brand to adjacent categories where we believe we can be disruptive and win.”
While the alt meat category is facing serious headwinds, the pendulum will swing back to plant-based meat, predicted Brown, “and I’m very comfortable that Beyond will prosper when it does, but I’m not going to wait around for that.”
In the meantime, he said, the new ‘Beyond Immerse’ protein- and fiber-packed lightly carbonated beverage platform will give the beleaguered firm access to a far larger and “less controversial” market.
“We do so [enter the beverages category] not to dabble, but with a firm and serious belief that our technology, our brand and our commitment to human health and the power of plants allows us to successfully deliver unique and compelling value within the certain segments we’ve identified.”
The move into beverages: ‘We don’t have to reinvent the wheel’
Quizzed by analysts on the Q4 earnings call Tuesday on the practicalities of moving into a new category, Brown said: “On the supply chain side, we actually have a lot of beverage expertise. We have some of the best minds in beverage on our board, with [Honest Tea founder and Just Ice Tea CEO] Seth [Goldman] and Jim [Koch] from Boston Beer, and Kathy [Waller, former CFO at] and Coca-Cola.
“The supply chain is pretty similar from an ingredient perspective; we’re dealing with protein, we’re dealing with fiber, dealing with flavor, things like that. So that is not a stretch for us.”
From a logistics perspective, meanwhile, “co-packing [for this kind of beverage] is readily available throughout the United States,” he said. “It has much less arduous terms [compared with alt meat]. From a scale up perspective, often [with alt meat products] we have to go teach the copacker how to make our products. That’s obviously not the case here [with beverages].”
Asked about distribution for the beverages, which have been test-launched via Beyond’s online test kitchen, he said: “We’re taking a pretty careful approach, initially launching DTC [direct to consumer], getting feedback from the consumer, making adjustments, and then you’ll see us go into a particular regional distribution, likely with an emphasis on [the] natural [retail channel] and then to mass [the conventional channel].”
While plant-based meat and beverages are very different categories, he acknowledged, “We’re relying on the fact that Beyond is a very well-known brand, so we don’t have to kind of reinvent the wheel. So that gives us an advantage relative to someone who’s just starting out.”
Early feedback for the beverages—which are sweetened with stevia and monk fruit and designed to appeal to a broad set of consumers including GLP-1 users—has been very positive for the 10g/protein SKUs, whereas the 20g/protein SKUs have been more “polarizing,” he said.
“We’re probably on our sixth or seventh iteration… but I think it’s going to be one of the best protein drinks on the market. It is a hell of a product.”
Q4, 2025 by the numbers:
Beyond Meat posted a 19.7% year-over-year (YoY) decline in net sales to $61.6 million in the fourth quarter of 2025 but enters 2026 with reduced leverage following recent moves to restructure its debt, said Brown.
- Net revenue: -19.7% year over year (YoY) to $61.6 million, volumes -22.4% (FY2025: net revenue -15.6% YoY to $275.5 million)
- Loss from operations: $132.7 million
- Net income: $409.9 million, including a $548.7 million non-cash gain on debt restructuring.
- Gross profit margin: 2.3%
- US retail revenue: -6.5% to $31.7 million; volumes -6.5%
- US foodservice revenue: -23.7% to $8 million; volumes -25.1%
- International retail revenue: -32.5% to $8.8 million; volumes -33.5%
- International foodservice revenue: –31.8% to $13.1 million; volumes -34.1%
- Outlook: Q1, 2026 net revenues are expected to be $57-59 million.
Debt restructuring
Beyond, which previously owed $1.2 billion in zero-interest convertible notes due in 2027, recently exchanged the vast majority of this debt in exchange for:
- $209.7 million in new secured notes (that pay 7% interest) due in 2030
- 317.8 million new shares
As a result, it has significantly reduced its debt but seen its share price plunge further following the dilution.
According to Brown, Beyond Meat is:
- Completing the consolidation of its production network.
- Optimizing a new continuous production line at its facility in Missouri.
- Further consolidating its warehouse network and reducing logistic expenses.
- Exiting less profitable product lines.
- Making substantial progress on driving down inventory.
