Beyond Meat sees double-digit growth in Europe and Canada as US market remains under pressure

Beyond Meat has outlined plans to expand beyond its core meat alternatives business into functional nutrition, as the company pursues new sources of growth while working to stabilize demand in the US and improve its manufacturing economics.

• Beyond Meat outlined a three-part turnaround strategy spanning international growth, expansion into adjacent nutrition categories and improvements to manufacturing efficiency and unit economics.
• International retail revenue increased 16.5% to US$18.5 million in Q2, supported by higher sales in Europe and Canada, while US retail revenue fell 9.9%.
• The company launched functional beverage Beyond Immerse and continued trials of a continuous production line designed to bring previously outsourced manufacturing in-house.

The strategy represented a significant broadening of Beyond Meat's ambitions. Founder, President & CEO Ethan Brown told investors that the company was evolving from what he described as a "narrow focus on plant-based meat" toward a wider role as "the plant protein company".

Its turnaround centered on three priorities: investing behind growth in Europe and Canada while stabilizing the US business, entering adjacent nutrition categories, and improving operational efficiency and unit economics.

The shift came as Beyond Meat's traditional business remained under pressure. Net revenue declined 8.2% year on year to US$68.8 million during the second quarter of 2026, although the result came roughly US$4 million above the upper end of the company's guidance.

US retail revenue declined 9.9% to US$29.6 million, with volumes down 5.7%, while US foodservice revenue dropped 27.6% to US$8 million. International foodservice revenue also fell 16% to US$12.7 million.

International retail offered a notable contrast. Revenue increased 16.5% to US$18.5 million, driven by an 8.2% increase in volume and a 7.7% increase in net revenue per pound.

Higher burger and chicken sales in Europe and increased ground beef sales in Canada contributed to the growth.

"Europe and Canada present our clearest near-term growth engines for our core product lines, and we are investing behind them accordingly," Brown said.

He pointed particularly to Germany and the UK, while describing Canada's retail distribution as strong.

Asked why European demand was performing differently from the US, Brown argued that consumers in Europe made a stronger connection between food consumption and climate issues, while maintaining that plant-based products had not faced misinformation campaigns on the same scale as in the US.

"The dynamics there are such that the kind of negative narrative that was framed here by the meat industry is just not present there in the same strength," he said.

Beyond Meat also continued trying to stabilize its US business through new products. Beyond Steak Filet moved into Wegmans and HEB in July, followed by Meijer, after previously being tested through the company's direct-to-consumer Beyond Test Kitchen platform.

The product provides 28g of plant protein and 3g of fiber per serving and uses avocado oil as its fat source. Beyond Chicken Pieces Spicy Buffalo also rolled out to more than 2,000 Kroger stores, while a new Beyond Breakfast Sausage range launched at Kroger, Sprouts and Whole Foods Market.

More consequential for Beyond Meat's longer-term direction, however, was its expansion outside conventional meat alternatives.

The first product launched under the broader strategy was Beyond Immerse, a lightly carbonated functional beverage combining plant protein, fiber, antioxidants and electrolytes.

Each can contains 20g of plant protein, 5-7g of fiber and 100-110 calories. Beyond initially introduced the drink through Beyond Test Kitchen before moving into a geographically focused rollout with New York distributor Big Geyser.

Brown indicated that the beverage was only the beginning of the company's push into adjacent categories.

"Over time, we intend to build a portfolio across relevant adjacencies, unified by a single product strategy, delivering powerful, delicious, and convenient plant-based nutrition across consumer needs states," he said.

Beyond Meat plans to use the plant biology, chemistry and ingredient functionality expertise developed through almost two decades of meat-alternative R&D to create products for other nutrition markets.

Brown said further products would follow Beyond Immerse, although the company did not disclose which categories it planned to enter next.

Manufacturing formed the third component of the strategy.

Beyond Meat has been consolidating its production network and conducting trials on a new continuous production line at its Columbia, Missouri facility. The line is intended to absorb volume previously handled by third-party manufacturers and reduce conversion costs.

The company has also renegotiated some material contracts, pursued secondary sourcing and formulation changes, consolidated warehouses and exited less profitable product lines.

Brown identified production throughput as a central challenge for the company's economics, with declining volumes leaving manufacturing overhead spread across fewer products.

"The main solve here is throughput," he said. "We continue to try to optimize our facilities, but the best and ultimate solve here is to just get more volume through those facilities."

Gross margin stood at 8.5% during the quarter, down from 10.6% a year earlier, partly because of higher material costs and manufacturing expenses. The figure also included US$1.6 million in expenses related to the cessation of Beyond Meat's operations in China, which management indicated would no longer weigh on margins after the second quarter.

Operating expenses fell 19% year on year to US$36.7 million, while operating loss narrowed from US$37.5 million to US$30.8 million.

Beyond Meat recorded net income of US$16.4 million, compared with a US$31.8 million loss a year earlier, although the result was primarily attributable to a US$57.7 million non-cash gain associated with debt extinguishment.

Adjusted EBITDA remained negative at US$27.7 million, compared with a US$24.7 million adjusted EBITDA loss during the same period of 2025.

Cash use nevertheless declined. Net cash used in operating activities totaled US$23.2 million during the first six months of 2026, compared with US$58 million a year earlier.

Beyond Meat ended the quarter with US$186.1 million in cash and cash equivalents, including restricted cash, and US$323.8 million in debt carrying value following its convertible debt exchange.

"We've got work to do," Brown said. "We have a lot of margin work to do and things of that nature and to get the top line back growing again."

The company's next phase will therefore depend on whether growth in Europe and Canada, new nutrition categories and manufacturing savings can generate enough additional volume to offset continued weakness in its established US plant-based meat business.

For the third quarter, Beyond Meat forecast net revenue of approximately US$60 million to US$65 million, citing continued uncertainty and volatility in its operating environment.

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