Beyond Meat reverses losses, jumps 9% after it says it 'co-created' McDonald's new plant-based burger
- Beyond Meat reversed early-day losses and jumped as much as 9% on Monday after it said it "co-created" McDonald's new plant-based burger, the McPlant.
- Investors have been holding out hope that McDonald's would continue to test a Beyond Meat-based patty after it tested and discontinued the product at some locations in Canada earlier this year.
- "Beyond Meat and McDonalds co-created the plant-based patty which will be available as part of their McPlant platform," Beyond Meat said in an e-mail to Business Insider.
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Investor hope around Beyond Meat becoming the preferred plant-based patty vendor to the largest restaurant chain in the world diminished (and then rebounded) on Monday after McDonald's announced that its own plant-based burger is in the works.
Beyond Meat sold off as much as 10% on Monday, and trading in the stock was briefly halted following the news.
But Beyond Meat reversed all of its losses and traded up as much as 9% to $170.80 in afternoon trades after the company said it co-created the McPlant burger with McDonald's.
"Beyond Meat and McDonalds co-created the plant-based patty which will be available as part of their McPlant platform," Beyond Meat said in an e-mail to Business Insider.
Starting in September 2019, McDonald's tested out an initial roll-out of the Beyond Meat burger at a handful of its locations primarily in Canada. That test run was discontinued over the summer.
Now, McDonald's is working with Beyond Meat again to test out its own plant-based burger. "McPlant is crafted exclusively for McDonald's, by McDonald's," Ian Borden said at McDonald's investor meeting on Monday. Borden is the international president of McDonald's.
The fast-food restaurant said it would begin to test the new vegetarian option burger in different markets around the world some time next year.
"There are other plant-based burgers out there, but the McPlant delivers our iconic taste in a sink-your-teeth-in (and wipe-your-mouth) kind of sandwich," McDonald's said on Monday, according to USA Today.
The battle for plant-based burger supremacy is currently being waged primarily by Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods, which both rely on their own in-house developed process to replicate the taste and feel of meat through plant-based components.
At its investor meeting, Borden said there is potential for its plant-based burger to extend to other menu categories in the future.
"In the future, McPlant could extend across a line of plant-based products including burgers, chicken-substitutes and breakfast sandwiches," Borden said.
It's not yet known when or if the plant-based burger will land on the menu of McDonald's US locations. But Borden said, "When customers are ready for it, we will be ready for them."
