Beyond Meat’s positive sales in international retail were offset by continued declines across the rest of the business in Q2, dragging down net revenues by 8.2% year-over-year to $68.8 million, slightly ahead of the company’s earlier forecasts.
“Our core plant-based meat business continues to face pressure in US retail and foodservice and in global foodservice consistent with category trends,” CEO Ethan Brown told analysts on the firm’s earnings call Wednesday. “However, this pressure was partially offset by strong growth in Europe and Canada, where retail was up by double digits in both markets year over year, respectively.
“We are seeing some signs of stabilization in certain pockets of US retail, with our core burger, ground beef, and dinner sausage products demonstrating resiliency in specific, though certainly not all, accounts.”
He added: “Germany is very strong. The UK is pretty good. The Netherlands also has some strength to it, and we’ve also just appointed a longtime partner of mine, of ours, to run Europe for us [EMEA manager Adriaan Figee], and we’re very excited about that. So you’ll see us continue to invest in Europe.”
Olam Food Ingredients exec Brijesh Krishnaswamy, who is joining Beyond Meat as COO later this summer, has experience in the US and Europe, “specifically in the Netherlands,” said Brown. “And so as you think about what I’m trying to accomplish in terms of growing both in Europe and stabilizing [the business] here in the US, he’s a really good fit.”
Brown did not provide new insights into the retail launch of Beyond Meat’s new sparkling beverage but claimed that Beyond’s new Steak filet, made from wheat gluten and faba bean protein, was one of the “most compelling center-of-the-plate innovations since the Beyond Burger.
“It launched at Wegmans and H-E-B in July, followed by Meijer, and we expect additional retailers to come.”
Q2, 2026 by the numbers:
- Net revenue: -8.2% year over year (YoY) to $68.8 million, volumes -9.5%
- Net income: $16.4 million vs net loss of $31.8 million in Q2, 2025 (thanks to a $57.7 million non-cash gain from converting some of its 2030 senior convertible notes)
- Gross profit margin: 8.5%
- US retail revenue: -9.9% to $29.6 million; volumes -5.7%
- US foodservice revenue: -27.6% to $8 million; volumes -27.4%
- International retail revenue: +16.5% to $18.5 million; volumes +8.2%
- International foodservice revenue: -16% to $12.7 million; volumes -20.4%
- Outlook: Q3, 2026 net revenues are expected to be $60-65 million.
- Balance sheet: As of June 1, Beyond Meat had $186.1 million in cash and $323.8 million in debt, including newly restructured convertible notes due in 2030.
Three pillars
Moving forward, the company will focus on “three pillars intended to deliver the enterprise to sustainable growth,” said Brown:
- Investing in Europe and Canada and stabilizing the core US business.
- Expanding into adjacent categories such as beverages with “plant-based nutrition.”
- Driving operational efficiency and improvements in unit economics.
Over time, said Brown, “We intend to build a portfolio across relevant adjacencies, unified by a single product strategy, delivering powerful, delicious, and convenient plant-based nutrition across consumer need states.
“You will also see us return to a playbook that we used extensively while building our business, [deploying] athletes [such as basketball player Josh Hart] who understand the superpowers of plants and what they can do to build, fuel, and restore the body.”
