Beyond Meat plummets 10% after McDonald's ends Canadian trial with no plans to continue
- Beyond Meat plummeted as much as 10% on Thursday after it was reported by CBC that McDonald's ended its Beyond Meat trial in Canada with no set plans for a vegetarian option.
- According to the report, the trial with McDonald's ended in April and the fast-food company is "evaluating what it learned from the test."
- Beyond Meat provided McDonald's with its plant-based burger patties for a six-month trial starting in September of last year.
- Bullish investors in Beyond Meat have been hoping for a permanent tie-up between McDonald's and the alternative meat company since the partnership began.
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Beyond Meat plunged as much as 10% on Thursday after it was reported by CBC that McDonald's ended its Canadian trial of the plant-based burger in April with no plans to continue.
McDonald's told CBC news that it has no update on its Beyond Meat burger offering, and that it's "evaluating learnings" from the trial "to help inform future plant-based menu decisions."
McDonald's began to offer the P.L.T. burger, or plant-lettuce-tomato, in September of last year in several locations in southwestern Ontario. The test was conducted to see if the burger would be a viable option for its locations around the globe.
According to CBC, "McDonald's made no public announcements when the P.L.T. trial ended in April. It also removed information about the burger from its website with no explanation."
In response to CBC, Beyond Meat said in an email, "We can only comment generally and share that we were pleased with the test."
In Beyond Meat's May earnings call, JPMorgan analyst Ken Goldman remarked to management: "... typically if a test did well, the retailer wouldn't end it, they would expand it."
Beyond Meat CEO Ethan Brown responded to Ken:
"I can assure you there's no issue with McDonald's ... this is a way it's been planned and the way it's being executed. And there's been no change at all. I can't promise you that we'll see a massive expansion tomorrow. But there's been no change in information since we began this test and got good results in the beginning and got good results at the end."
In an e-mail to Business Insider, McDonald's said: "There has been no change in the relationship between McDonald's and Beyond Meat. We're evaluating learnings from our recent test to inform future menu options. As we look ahead, we will plan to bring plant-based options to the menu at the right time for customers in individual markets."
Shares of Beyond Meat traded down as much as 10% to $136 in Thursday morning trades. Despite today's drop, Beyond Meat is up more than 90% year-to-date.
