Beyond Meat's Plant-Based Steak Is Coming To Whole Foods, Publix, And More
When People Magazine rounded up the 66 winners for its 2023 Food Awards, Beyond Meat's Beyond Steak was named the winner for the best plant-based beef category. The outlet quoted one reviewer of the product as saying, "I expected to hate this, but wow — it had the texture, chew and flavor of real steak."
The plant-based protein has clearly found other fans as well because, according to a press release sent to Tasting Table, shoppers looking for alternatives to beef will soon be able to pick up Beyond Steak at several new retail stores.
Beyond Steak debuted in October 2022, and it was initially sold in more than 5,000 stores, including Walmart, Kroger, and Safeway. And just three months later — at the same time Beyond Meat was adding Sprouts Farmers Market and Target to its list of purveyors — this product was stocking the freezers of roughly 50 Costco locations in the Western U.S. Today, we learned that the plant-based Beyond Steak is being rolled out in a slew of new stores, including Whole Foods Market, Publix, Wegmans, Meijer, and Stater Bros. Markets.
Beyond Steak appeals to consumers new to plant-based meat
Beyond Steak comes in a 10-ounce package, and while it doesn't replicate the experience of having a whole ribeye on your plate, it delivers a plant-based, non-GMO, kosher option for those who want a tasty alternative for beef tips in fajitas, salads, wraps, and dishes like bibimbap.
Akerho Oghoghomeh, the Senior Vice President of Global Marketing for Beyond Meat said Beyond Steak appears to be a breakthrough product, bringing new consumers into the plant-based fold, citing data from one regional chain that demonstrated that half of the households purchasing Beyond Steak were making their first plant-based meat purchase. Oghoghomeh also pointed out that Beyond Steak is finding repeat buyers, with two of three households choosing to purchase the product again.
Though Beyond Meat has experienced some financial difficulties, like lower-than-expected revenue and employee layoffs, the company isn't backing down from its mission of delivering protein with a smaller environmental footprint than animal-based sources. In fact, Oghoghomeh teased a new product in the press release, revealing that a new addition to Beyond Meat's line of plant-based burgers would be coming soon.