Based on the Beyond Meat Case Analysis. Please provide feedback about what you would liked about this analysis and do you agree or disagree with it? In paragraph form. Below is the case analysis.

Beyond Meat Discussion

Introduction

Beyond Meat is known for bringing plant-based products to mainstream culture with its Beyond Burger. It has been in the news due to the company's stock price not being as high as it once was. A new mission statement that included the nine components, affordability, and the environment would help the company. The goal of the business is to make plant-based foods cheaper to produce than animal-based meat (Besserve, 2022). The two top competitors are Impossible Foods and Cargill. Beyond Meat is a part of monopolistic competition due o there being similar but different products.

Discussion

Company Research

Beyond Meat is a company that produces plant-based meat substitutes famous for delivering access to affordable and delicious plant-based meat. The company sells a variety of meat substitutes including steak, ground beef, chicken, jerky, sausage, meatballs, and burgers (Besserve, 2022). The headquarters for the company is in Los Angeles, California, and was founded by Ethan Brown in 2009. Beyond Meat has a production facility in California and Missouri. It also has a 26,000- square foot research lab in El Segundo, California. With the company being present in more than fifty global markets, Beyond Meat alleges to have 27,000 various distribution centers in the United States (Wolf, 2022). Beyond Meat markets its products by targeting meat-eaters and vegetarians, changing its reputation, and getting cheap advertisements from restaurants (Besserve, 2022). It sells its products through grocery stores, like Walmart, and has partnerships with chain restaurants.

The company began as a start-up but has blossomed into a multi-billion-dollar company that is publicly traded. In 2019, the company had three billion in IPO and 11 billion as of 2020 (Wolf, 2022). The company has been experiencing many problems recently with the stock price declining and inflation causing customers to lean towards affordable options. Therefore, the company is experiencing financial difficulties because the stock price has been reduced by 22.5% in the third quarter compared to the prior year (Wiener-Bronner, 2022). Beyond Meat is seen as an innovative company that is bringing plant-based meat to more mainstream audiences. However, it is seen as more of a risk than buying regular meat and is more expensive.

Beyond Meat has recently appeared in the news for the stock is much lower than it initially was at the height of its tenure. Despite a very successful start in 2019, Beyond Meat lost support from many investors, and the stock dropped around 77% in 2022 (Wiener-Bronner, 2022).The founder and CEO of the company are Ethan Brown, and he has been a member of the board since it started in 2009. His strategic vision for the company to continually innovate and his experience in technology and business has allowed him to lead the company even during the current financial crisis. Beyond Meat was the first large business to sell plant-based products in the meat section of grocery stores. Since it was a newer idea, the company has had to prove that it can be successful in the market and has done so despite the company having financial troubles.

Mission Statement

A mission statement is the starting point and basis for priorities, plans, strategies, and work assignments (David & David, 2017). Being broad is one of the characteristics of a mission statement. However, Beyond Meat's statement is too vague. One important quality that Beyond Meat's mission statement is lacking is who the customers are (David & David, 2017). The statement uses the word "we" which makes it seem like everyone is their customer, without being specific about who. It does mention shifting from animal to plant-based meat, so it includes the product. Phrases like "affect the planet" and "great impact on our world" portray it as a global company but not any specific markets ("Our Mission", 2023). It does not mention technology or that they were the first large-scale successful company in the plant-based food industry. The statement also lacks anything about survival, growth, and profitability, which is one of the nine components (David & David, 2017). Making sure that people are informed that affordability is a priority for the company. Philosophy is mentioned in the original mission statement because it ends with making positive choices, even if small, that can impact the world. It does not mention what the business's competitive advantage is. The mission statement does display a positive public image about caring for the environment, the climate, and people. It has an emphasis on people rather than specific groups or employees.

There are multiple ways that the mission statement could be improved. An improvement would be, "Beyond Meat values its customers with a passion for making the world and themselves healthier. We provide plant-based meat substitutes that provide an affordable and environmentally friendly alternative to meat. Our products are sold internationally in over fifty countries and are in the local grocery store. Beyond Meat was the first large company in the plant-based foods industry and innovated the market. Our prices are affordable so our customers can invest their money into healthier options. The environment, climate, and a healthy world are crucial to the viewpoint of our company. The positive choices we make every day can have a great impact on our world. Our product helps to positively affect the planet by providing a meat substitute that does not feel like a compromise. Our employees believe in our objective to help customers be healthier and improve our planet." This new mission statement includes the nine components of a good mission statement, bringing up affordability, and improving the environment.The Cohesion Case on Hershey shows that Hershey and Beyond meat both are socially responsible businesses. Hershey decided to replace all its high-fructose corn syrup from its candy to address the customer demand for healthier and natural food options (David & David, 2017). Beyond Meat started the business to meet the need of people that want a healthy yet tasty option.

Company Goals

In June of 2022, the founder of Beyond Meat, Ethan Brown, said that the company's objective is to make plant-based meat cheaper than animal meat (Besserve, 2022). The CEO Ethan Brown understood that the target audience for Beyond Meat was not just people who don't eat meat, but also meat-eaters who often want to eat healthier meals. This goal was accomplished because they realized that if they only marketed toward vegetarians, it would limit the success they could have. Some of the promises of Beyond Meat's burgers were that they produce 90% fewer greenhouse gases, require 93% less land, 99% less water, and 46% percent less energy than beef patties (Besserve, 2022). This goal allowed them to present themselves as a healthier option with proven results.

Another goal was to change the stigma surrounding plant-based meat options not tasting good. Beyond Meat had to change this assumption and tried to market itself differently from other plant-based options. Another goal was to get media attention by investing in celebrity endorsements. Beyond Meat had celebrities and pro-athletes endorsing its products, including Kyrie Irving and Leonardo DiCaprio ("Betting Big," 2019). Ethan Brown also interviewed with Plant Based News and CNBC about how he started the company and the cultural phenomenon it has become.

Competitors

One top competitor is Impossible Foods, and it has been providing fierce competition in the space. Impossible Foods is a start-up founded in 2011 in California by CEO Patrick Brown (Besserve, 2022). Like the Beyond Burger, Impossible Foods launched the Impossible Burger in 2016. These two companies had many similarities including that they rearrange proteins to make their plant-based products. The difference is that Beyond Meat gets the protein from peas, whereas Impossible Foods extracts it from soybeans. They also sell many plant-based products like pork, sausage, and burgers. The NAICS code for Beyond Meat is 311999, and Impossible Foods is 3118,311 in the foods and beverages category. Beyond Meat is surpassing Impossible Foods in profits. This company is the best comparison to Beyond Meat because they have a focal product that is similar and a similar business model of selling to restaurants and grocery stores. Impossible Foods' annual revenue was 4.5 million in 2021, compared to Beyond Meat's 464.7 million in 2021 ("Beyond Meat Stock," 2021). Beyond Meat is publicly traded and Impossible Foods is private.

Another competitor for Beyond Meat is Cargill, a private global food business founded in 1865. Cargill Inc. launched its plant-based burger patties and other products in April 2020 to compete with Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods ("Cargill to Challenge," 2020). The NAICS code for Cargill is 311999, food manufacturing, which is the same as Beyond Meat. Cargill decided to differentiate itself from Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods by offering pea and soy-based protein options alongside its animal-based products. The company has invested 7 billion in animal protein over the last few years ("Cargill to Challenge," 2020). Due to its other divisions, the company raised 114.6 billion in 2020, compared to Beyond Meat's 406.8 million ("Cargill to Challenge," 2020). Still, Cargill is comparable to Beyond Meat due to its interest in plant-based products and competing against Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods.

Market Structure

Beyond Meat is a part of monopolistic competition, which is when the market is shared by many firms selling similar but differentiated products. The global meat market that Beyond Meat has become a part of is worth 1.4 trillion, and the meat production side is an oligopoly that is ruled by five major companies, including Tyson ("Betting Big," 2019). Beyond Meat is a major player in the monopolistic competition around plant-based products. Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat are the two most notable businesses focused on plant-based meat substitutes. The latter is ahead of Impossible Foods and small plant-based companies.

Conclusion

The Beyond Burger is the product that launched Beyond Meat to the top of the plant-based meat market. The company has been in the news recently because the stock is not performing as well as it did prior. A new mission statement could help the company immensely if it included the nine components, affordability and helping the environment. One of the goals is to make plant-based products cheaper than animal-based ones and erase the stigma around plant-based foods (Besserve, 2022). The competitors for Beyond Meat include Impossible Foods and Cargill. Beyond Meat is in monopolistic competition because there are multiple similar but different products.