What’s Going On Here?
Plant-based meat company Beyond Meat, creators of the Beyond Burger, went public on Thursday 2nd May sending Wall Street into a feeding frenzy with its first stock trade at 84% above its IPO.
What Does This Mean?
Ethan Brown, vegan tech entrepreneur (let’s hope that’s his tinder bio strapline), who set up Beyond Meat back in 2009, received early backing from the likes of Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Bill Gates and Leonardo DiCaprio. With that initial investment to sink his teeth into, Ethan grew Beyond Meat into a company that is now worth $1.49 billion.
Share prices were originally priced between $19-$21 each but with its first stock trade at $46, it closed its first day on $65.75 – 163% above their IPO (Initial Public Offering). For a company yet to break even, such numbers go above and Beyond even their own wildest expectations.
Why Should We Care?
If the effects of the plant-based milk market growth is anything to go by, we are likely to see a decline in meat sales. Plant-based milk sales rose by 9% in the year prior to June 2018 as cow’s milk sales declined by 6%.
With more of us increasingly concerned about our health, animal rights, and the environment, the demand for animal-free alternatives is on the up. This will lead to having a huge positive impact on our collective health and the health of the planet.
Be Curious!
If you read this and we lost you at ‘IPO’ I’m sorry, but all you need to know is that a meat alternative company is shaking things up on the stock market and meat-free alternatives seem to be a solution to a lot of our problems right now.
We think it’s important you find the right meat-free alternative and perhaps more importantly, find out how you’re going to make a new lifestyle work! Here are a few ideas:
- Try Meat Free Monday. Whether that means replacing your meat with a Beyond Burger (most Tesco’s sell them now) or trying out a a new veggie recipe.
- Ask for the vegan menu next time you’re out with friends for lunch. So many restaurants offer alternatives now: Happy Cow is a really useful website which makes finding them easy.
- Have fun with it. Eating less or no meat doesn’t mean you’re destined for a life of salads (urghhh how boring!). Get inspiration from others or be the inspire-er (is that a word?) on social media. Use hashtags like #meatfreemonday to go explore and don’t forget to let us in on the action too by using #curiousearth.
