Beyond Meat made headlines in 2019 when it went public. I remember my vegetarian friends raving about how great it was and how their burgers nearly tasted like meat.
Now I am surprised when I see Beyond Meat burgers on a menu, since it seems as if they’re not as common anymore.
And apparently, I am not the only one. The company is trying to rebrand itself less as a protein company known as Beyond The Plant Protein Co. or simply Beyond, but it doesn’t seem to be working.
Its stock has hovered at less than $1 for several months, and it’s been on the brink of bankruptcy, TheStreet reported back in December.
Beyond Meat President and CEO Ethan Brown says he knows why the company is struggling, and that it has nothing to do with how the company is run.
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Beyond Meat reports more losses
Beyond Meat made several changes to its business recently, including restructuring its debt. This has cost the company dearly.
An inventory problem caused it to delay filing its 2025 financial report, according to TheStreet.
Beyond Meat reported a 19.7% decrease in net revenue in the fourth quarter of 2025 at just $61.6 million and operating losses of $132.7 million.
Its 2005 full-year results weren’t that great, either.
Beyond Meat 2025 financial highlights
- The company saw a 15.6% decline in revenue compared to the year prior, with just $275.5 million.
- The gross profit of Beyond Meat was also down, at just $7.6 million, compared to $41.7 million in 2024.
- The company also lost significant money from running its business. It reported a loss of $332.7 million, which was related to some of its assets being written down in value.
- Adjusted EBITDA was a loss of $178.4 million, compared to a loss of $101.7 million in 2024.
But while Beyond Meat’s CEO acknowledged the financial impact that restructuring has had on the company’s bottom line, he says the blame lies with how American society sees meat alternatives.
Beyond Meat CEO blames Americans’ changing beliefs
Plant-based meat overall has been struggling. Protein alternatives just aren’t as popular with Americans as they were six years ago. Annual sales fell in 2025 to near 2019 levels, when Beyond Meat became popular, according to BNP Media’s National Provisioner.
It’s the move away from meat alternatives and sound science and belief in “pseudoscientific jargon” that is hurting Beyond Meat’s bottom line, said Brown.
“This is a very difficult period for the world, and it’s a difficult period for our country…. Nothing in our lane is a more obvious representation of this troubling trend than the resurgence of red meat,” he said during an earnings report call on March 31 .
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His comments were a clear stab at guidance from the Make America Healthy Again movement led by U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Dietary guidelines from the U.S. government released in January put red meat at the top of the food pyramid. That’s despite health warnings from experts on the dangers of eating too much red meat, according to the Harvard School of Public Health.
“I can only look at these current trends with a mixture of sadness for the folks that are going to be impacted by it and increased impatience for those that are seeking to profit from it,” Brown said.
Despite the change in guidance from the U.S. government, Brown is optimistic that it’s just a fad and that Beyond Meat “will prosper” when protein alternatives are popular again.
“We’re really well positioned to look outside the category and take that technology, take that science, take that brand into segments and categories that are many, many, many, many times the size of the plant-based meat category,” he said.
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