Beyond Meat is taking a new shape. The alternative meat maker is debuting a plant-based “ground beef,” which marbleizes and tenderizes just like the real thing.
The company announced that it will start arriving on shelves beginning next Monday, June 24. It will be sold at several grocery chains including Whole Foods, Wegmans, HEB and Atlanta-area Kroger stores.
Beyond Meat said the new type of meat is “versatile enough to use in any ground beef recipe,” like meatballs or taco meat. The ground beef texture has 20 grams of protein per 4-ounce serving with a “fibrous texture” similar to beef. It’s made from a blend of pea, mung bean and rice.
Beyond Meat is striving to create products that are indistinguishable from beef, pork and poultry for consumers who like meat but want to eat more healthfully and reduce their impacts on the planet.
The new product announcement comes a week after Beyond Meat introduced a new patty that uses coconut oil and cocoa butter to create a marbling effect to make the texture mimic real meat more closely.
The ground beef adds to Beyond Meat’s array of products, which also includes sausages. It recently scrapped selling its frozen plant-based chicken strips to improve the recipe.
Beyond had a wildly successful initial public offering last month. Since then, its stock price has increased dramatically: It’s currently trading at about seven times its IPO price of $25.
–CNN Business’ Danielle Weiner-Bronner contributed to this report.
