Specialist
Former director at Beyond Meat Inc
Agenda
- Consumer trends and declining momentum of the plant-based and alternative meat category
- Sector challenges amid inflationary headwinds and pressures on consumer discretionary spending
- Innovation and possible pricing actions to recoup losses from declining demand
- Competitive landscape overview and major players’ comparable strengths, highlighting Beyond Meat (NASDAQ: BYND) and Impossible Foods
- Foodservice opportunity and medium-to-long-term outlook
Questions
1.
What are your thoughts on the struggles we’ve seen in the past year for the plant- and alternative-based meat category? Could you provide colour on the challenges facing providers right now?
2.
Observers of Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods have noted that taste, texture and price are the most important factors for companies to focus and innovate on. From a consumer taste standpoint, what needs to improve? How crucial is R&D investment in the space right now?
3.
How significant of a market do you think the flexitarian segment is? You indicated that Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods need to figure out their targeted demographic. Do you see either company catering more towards the traditional vegetarian or vegan categories now that they seem to be losing out on flexitarians?
4.
Are concerns surrounding ingredients and product quality weighing heavier on the category than cost pressures? Where do you see the most challenges for plant- and alternative-based meat, whether consumers looking to spend less or concerns about quality, nutrition and so on?
5.
What’s your long-term outlook as we move away from today’s inflationary period and raw input costs come down? Do you expect product perception and the plant-based meat price point to permanent shift, whether Beyond Meat or Impossible Foods? Do you think consumers won’t accept a cost increase coming out of this recessionary period?
6.
How might product assortment shift along with SKU counts if demand continues to shrink as inflationary pressures continue? You mentioned reducing SKUs. Could you provide more colour there?
7.
What are your impressions on the struggles we’re seeing with Beyond Meat’s plant-based jerky launch? Snacking occasions are a huge thing for consumers, so where are the challenges with that product? Why isn’t it panning out?
8.
How do you see distribution channels in the mix shifting, especially given the pricing strategies and heavy discounting that companies are taking to try to recoup demand losses? Do you see Beyond Meat or Impossible Foods pursuing lesser indexing into a Whole Foods or other speciality grocers instead of more nationwide brands?
9.
Could you provide colour on the competitive landscape for plant-based and alternative meat? Are there any emerging entrants?
10.
Which brands do you think are best-positioned to maintain growth and weather inflationary pressures considering today’s macro environment? Could you compare the margin profile of legacy, more veggie-forward brands vs plant-based and meat alternatives such as Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods?
11.
What is your impression of Beyond Meat and McDonald’s partnership and the termination of the McPlant offering? Why is foodservice so difficult to penetrate?
12.
How would you characterise the overall innovation pipeline of Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods? It seems the food-service sector almost serves as a good, consumer-insight avenue. Is that a crucial framework or just an additional synergy that’s coming through those two businesses? What other factors are at play here?
13.
Do you see plant-based and alternative meat players indexing more towards foodservice, considering how compressed margins are in retail right now? How do you think Impossible Foods is performing vs Beyond Meat given the business models?
14.
Which 2-3 risks should we track over the next 12-18 months? You mentioned shelf space for fresh meats is very competitive, and Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods have historically penetrated well into that category. How are pricing and performance on top-line sales vs margin impacted if we’re seeing the players now shift back and allocated more to the frozen aisle? What are the implications?
15.
Outside of pricing plays, what else can Beyond Meat or Impossible Foods do to maintain brand equity, consumer loyalty and mitigate marginal loss?
16.
How would you characterise Beyond Meat’s historical, consumer-engagement strategy? What does it centre around?
17.
What might be Beyond Meat’s opportunities to focus on storytelling with consumers, considering the potential challenges as demand has slowed? It seems the category is carried by momentum of new innovations. What is on the horizon for a lab-grown meat?
18.
How are consumer demographics trending? How are millennials vs younger gen Z viewing plant-based, GMO products? Of course, gen Z will have much more buying power in a couple of years. Do you see the narrative shifting?
19.
Could you highlight 2-3 significant sector headwinds heading into the next 12-18 months? You mentioned supply chain.
20.
Do you see Beyond Meat pursuing the private label route to compete against Impossible Foods? Is that as viable for the company?
21.
Where do you think major plant-based meat providers will be prioritising businesses for top-line sales or marginal maintenance, considering the macro environment? What should we expect from management teams over the next 12-18 months?
22.
Do you see the plant-based and alternative meat sector as somewhat risk-exposed to economic downturns? Could we ever reach a point where penetration into consumer baskets is sufficient enough that this won’t be a concern?
23.
Could you reiterate the direction you see top-lines sales vs margin contribution going for major plant-based and alternative meat players?
