Beyond Meat Inc has brought back a chicken offering to its product portfolio with the launch of plant-based chicken tenders as the faux-meat maker looks to capitalise on booming demand for meat alternatives amid a shift towards healthy eating in the COVID-19 pandemic.
The company is launching the product in approximately 400 US restaurants, more than two years after it discontinued a frozen chicken strip offering due to negative reviews.
Chicken Strips Details
Beyond Meat, which is known for its faux beef Beyond Burger, launched Chicken Strips as its first alternative meat product in 2012.
Made out of faba beans and peas, the improved faux meat chicken tenders recipe has 14 grams of protein per serving, no cholesterol and contains 40% less saturated fat than the leading foodservice chicken tender, Beyond Meat said in a statement.
Drop In US Foodservice Revenue
The move to reintroduce a chicken product follows a 26% drop in the company's US foodservice revenue in the three months to April 3.
Beyond Meat Chief Executive Statements
In an interview with CNBC, Beyond Meat's chief executive, Ethan Brown, said that the chicken tenders are priced keeping foodservice in mind and that the company is planning to launch more chicken meat substitutes in the future. The timing of the launch with the reopening of the US restaurants was a coincidence, he said.
Availability
Blissful Burgers, Detroit Wing Company and Melt Bar & Grilled are some of the smaller chains and restaurants at which the chicken tenders will be available, the company said.
Shares
Shares of the El-Segundo, California-based company, which did not disclose whether the product will be sold at grocery stores, were up 1.3%.
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