Beyond Meat's blockbuster year has ignited the plant-based food industry. Here are 6 companies that have launched fake 'meat' products to compete.

Carmen ReinickeSep 6, 2019, 23:49 IST

Facebook/Beyond Meat

Competition is heating up in plant-based meat, especially after Beyond Meat's IPO and numerous restaurant partnerships have caught the eye of investors and consumers.
Plant-based meat is a trend that's catching on big time and could grow to be a $140 billion industry, according to Wall Street analysts.
Now, a number of traditional companies are getting in the plant game and launching competitors to Beyond Meat.
Read more on Markets Insider.

Plant-based meat has blown up this year, especially after Beyond Meat's blockbuster IPO that sent shares up more than 800%. Amid the fervor, a number of high-profile restaurant partnerships have kept alternative plant-based foods in the spotlight.

It looks like a trend that isn't going away anytime soon, especially given the number of traditional food processing companies that are jumping into the plant-based meat alternative pool.

Competition is heating up in the plant-based protein industry, now worth $14 billion in the US, that Wall Street thinks could grow to be worth $140 billion.

Consumers are rushing to try the alternative foods in a number of fast food restaurants, and data show that they're willing to pay higher prices for the products. Dunkin, Tim Hortons, Subway and Del Taco all offer plant-based meat on menus.

Even Lewis Hamilton, a Formula One champion, has invested in a fast-food chain that will offer all plant-based foods including Beyond Burgers - the first location opened in London in September, Bloomberg reported.

Beyond Meat has set its sights even higher than the $140 billion projection. The goal is to take on the $270 billion US meat industry, the company said in an investor presentation. Measuring off the market share that plant-based milk has captured from dairy milk, Beyond Meat thinks it could capture 13% or $35 billion of the traditional meat market.

It's a tall order, especially as animal protein consumption is on track for a record year in 2019 and 2020, Don Close, a senior analyst of animal protein at Rabobank, told Markets Insider.

But the popularity and consumer demand for proteins derived from plants cannot be ignored, and a number of more traditional food processing companies have launched plant-based brands or invested in smaller companies creating plant-based fare.

Here are 6 companies that have launched products competing with Beyond Meat:

See Beyond Meat's blockbuster year has ignited the plant-based food industry. Here are 6 companies that have launched fake 'meat' products to compete. >>

1. Tyson Foods

Tyson Foods was a former investor in Beyond Meat, but sold its 6.52% share in April and decided to make its own plant-based products. It's since launched Raised & Rooted, a line of products which includes vegan meat alternatives as well as ones that blend meat and plant-based protein.

Tyson also recently announced that its venture capital arm, Tyson Ventures, is investing in a plant-based shrimp company called New Wave Foods. The startup makes plant-based shrimp from plants such as seaweed and soy protein.

2. Kellogg

MorningStar Farms, a brand owned by Kellogg, announced this week the launch of new additions to its existing plant-based portfolio — Incogmeato by MorningStar Farms. Incogmeato is a "next-gen product line" that includes a "ready-to-cook plant-based burger" and fully prepared plant-based "Chik'n" tenders and nuggets.

3. Kroger

Kroger announced that it had plans for its own lines of plant-based products in early September, CNBC reported. The line, named Simple Truth, will launch in the fall of 2019 and include plant-based burgers, cookie dough, pasta sauce, sausage, deli slices and more.

Kroger also sells Just Egg, a plant-based liquid egg substitute made from mung beans, in 2,100 stores across the US.

4. Nestle

In June, shares of Beyond Meat tanked when Nestle announced that it would launch its own veggie burger in the US in the fall. The burger comes from Nestle's Sweet Earth Brand and is called the "Awesome Burger."

Nestle is not stranger to the plant-based meat world. It offers a soy-and-wheat-based burger in Europe and its "Incredible Burger" is available at McDonald's in Germany.

5. Conagra Brands

Conagra Brands recently purchased Pinnacle Foods and in the acquisition took ownership of Gardein, a line of plant-based meat alternatives.

Analysts have called the Gardein brand the only "silver lining" in the company portfolio, especially after it announced fourth quarter earnings that fell short of expectations.

6. Hormel Foods

Hormel Foods launched its own line of plant-based meat alternatives in September. The line, called Happy Little Plants, includes a ground plant-based protein alternative.

Hormel also offers plant-based pizza topping items and the Applegate Blend Burger, which combines organic meat and mushrooms.

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