Abstract

The case study “The Travails of ‘Beyond Meat’: Are Meat Alternatives still the Future of Food?” discusses the disruption that Beyond Meat, Inc. (BM), a US-based plant-based meat alternatives company, brought in the food industry and analyzes the possibility of meat alternatives becoming mainstream food products in the future. The case starts with a brief insight into the entrepreneurship journey of BM’s Founder and CEO, Ethan Brown (Brown), – who believed that one should eat what they love while helping the environment, the climate, and themselves. The case provides a significant insight into BM’s innovative product development process, wherein products were designed keeping in mind the needs and wants of customers. The case then goes into detail about BM’s market segmentation, positioning, and targeting strategies. Despite early success and worldwide popularity, BM encountered growth stagnation within a few years, leaving it to undertake a business reset. The case mentions the various factors that negatively impacted BM, the key reason being that the plant-based meat revolution was on the wane. Can Brown effectively bolster BM’s growth by devising new product and marketing strategies? What factors does the industry as a whole need to improve to usher in a cultural shift from meat from animals to plant-based food?

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• Understand New-Market Disruption
• Analyze the reasons that drive the innovation and product development processes
• Investigate the segmentation, targeting, and positioning (STP) strategy of an innovative company
• Examine Diffusion of Innovation and the adoption barriers that restrict its speed
• Devise marketing strategies for enhanced innovation diffusion

Keywords

Plant-Based Proteins; Meat Alternatives; Food Innovation; STP Marketing; Sustainable Food; Consumer Trends; Consumer Perception; Competitive Landscape; Brand Positioning; Market Expansion; Diffusion of Innovation; Speed of Innovation Diffusion; Marketing Strategies for Enhanced Diffusion; Shaping Consumer Behavior; and New-Market Disruption