Beyond Meat Meatless Chicken Tender
Source: Beyond Meet
Beyond Meat is expanding its meatless chicken tender distribution to 8,000 new grocery, pharmacy and big-box retail locations.
Customers will now be able to purchase Beyond Chicken Tenders at selected Albertson, Sprouts, Whole Foods Market and CVS locations nationwide. All Kroger locations will also carry the item at the end of the month.
“From a sales perspective, wherever our customers are interested in carrying our product, we want it to be available so that our customers can finally shop there,” Beyond Chief Growth Officer Diana Jurgens said in an interview.
The expansion of Beyond Chicken Tender comes after a few quarters of the company’s weak retail sales. Consumer demand for its beef and sausage alternatives increased in the early days of the epidemic as restaurant sales declined, but those shopping habits have since ceased.
Additionally, the company focuses on a fast-food partnership to launch new retail products in 2021. In the fourth quarter, Beyond’s U.S. grocery sales fell nearly 20% to $ 50 million.
The slowdown in sales growth has disappointed investors. The stock is down 66% from last year, with a market value of 2.77 billion. Shares rose nearly 3% in premarket trading on Tuesday.
The restaurant first launched the chicken tender product in July last year before the grocery shelves were installed in October. CEO Ethan Brown told analysts in February that these launches were more expensive due to supply chain problems, but the company has improved costs due to increased production.
“The distribution continues to be a key driver for us as we go this year,” Jurgens said.