McDonald's partnered with Beyond Meat: McDonald's will sell artificial meat products in the next three years

McDonald's has a new move, artificial meat market ready for fire?

Recently, according to relevant reports, US artificial meat producer Beyond Meat said that the company has reached a cooperation agreement with US fast food giant McDonald's to provide artificial meat products for McDonald's in the next three years.

This is not the first time McDonald's has tried artificial meat burgers. In 2019, McDonald's has tested a plant burger with a different meat company in Canada and got a good market reaction.

Under the partnership agreement, Beyond Meat will become McDonald's preferred patty supplier for an artificial meat burger that is currently being tested in some markets.

According to reports, this global strategic cooperation agreement will last for three years. In addition to the above cooperation, the two sides will also cooperate in the development of new pork, chicken and egg substitutes. Beyond Meat also said it would work with Yum in the next few years to develop new artificial meat products for Yum's KFC and Pizza Hut restaurants.

In this regard, industry insiders said: At present Beyond Meat and McDonald's cooperation may be limited to the headquarters scope, domestic immediate shelf is less likely.

"Artificial Meat Beyond Meat" was founded in 2009 and was invested by Bill Gates. It was listed on NASDAQ in May 2019, becoming the world's first successful artificial meat company, rising 163% on its first day of listing.

The concept of "artificial meat" originated from the Mars program of the United States and attracted great attention worldwide due to its connection with concepts such as "environmental protection and humanitarianism."

At present, artificial meat can be divided into two types: "plant protein meat" and "cell culture meat". Among them, cell culture meat is made by cultivating animal cells and has high cost;"artificial meat" of plant meat is mainly made of plant protein such as soybean. As of December 31,2020, about 122,000 retail outlets and catering service points in more than 80 countries and regions in the world can buy the company's products.

Beyond Meat had revenue of $87.9 million in 2018, up 170% year-on-year and gross margin of 20%. One thing to note is that, according to Beyond Meat's earnings report, receipts show: The company's fourth quarter revenue of $102 million in 2020, market expectations of $105 million, compared with $98 million in the same period last year, net loss of $25.07 million, expected loss of $4.101 million, the company's share price has continued to fall since February.

However, with the demand of the market, the artificial meat market has also begun to improve. At present, there are far more than McDonald's involved in artificial meat products on the market. Many giants have been speeding up the trial marketing of artificial meat before this.

KFC, Burger King, Starbucks, Danone, and even Nestle Switzerland, the world's largest food company, have joined the "artificial meat war" in the Chinese market. The common "artificial meat product" is actually a plant meat product, mainly based on pea protein, which is slightly higher than ordinary meat burger in price.

McDonald's is a large multinational chain restaurant in the world. Since McDonald's entered the Chinese mainland market in 1990, it has continuously established and improved its own local supply chain. Now, the demand for artificial meat continues to increase. McDonald's chooses to join this market probably because it values market opportunities. From the layout of fast-food giants selling "artificial meat food" one after another, the competition for artificial meat will become more and more intense in the future.

* Image source: Internet