Beyond Meat is continuing to increase accessibility to plant-based meat through the development of new sales channels, including club and convenience stores. The company, which offers an 8-pack of its flagship Beyond Burger, first broke into the club channel last year at Costco. Now, Beyond Meat has entered into partnerships with BJ’s Wholesale and Sam’s Club, thus establishing a presence at the three major club stores.
“Having entered all national conventional retailers in the U.S., we looked for where the white space existed and club stores were the next logical step towards increasing accessibility to plant-based meat among mainstream consumers,” Chuck Muth, Chief Growth Officer of Beyond Meat, said in a statement. “By offering the Beyond Burger in a larger format, we are able to provide value to consumers and a more accessible entry point for those looking to try a plant-based option for the first time, or increase their adoption of plant-based meat. With the added focus on retail the past few months, as well as a shift towards less frequent, stock-up style shopping trips, our distribution in club stores has been especially critical.”
Beyond Meat was the first plant-based meat option that Sam’s Club explored via an initial test earlier this year at all locations. Following a strong response from consumers, Sam’s Club has now chosen to make the Beyond Burger a permanent offering.
After witnessing a growing interest in plant-based options, BJ’s Wholesale evaluated several alternatives and ultimately chose to offer its members Beyond Meat.
Beyond Meat was the #1 selling brand in refrigerated plant-based meat and owned the top four selling SKUs in all of plant-based meat per the latest 4-week SPINS data ending on June 14th. Beyond Meat’s club store distribution footprint currently includes the majority of BJ’s Wholesale Club, Costco, and Sam’s Club stores across the United States.
This effort comes on the heels of an exciting year of growth for Beyond Meat, whose portfolio of plant-based proteins was available as of March 28th at approximately 25,000 retail stores across the U.S. including: Kroger, Walmart, Target, Whole Foods Market, Albertsons/Vons/Pavilions, Publix, Wegmans, Sprouts, and more.
As previously reported by WAN, the Beyond Burger is designed to look, cook, and satisfy like a traditional beef burger but is made from simple, plant-based ingredients without GMOs, soy, gluten, or artificially produced substances.
Beyond Meat’s vision is to be a global protein company capable of serving consumers’ growing demand for delicious, nutritious, and sustainable protein. All Beyond Meat products are designed to meet, if not exceed, the nutritional benchmarks of their animal protein couterparts. Compared to an 80/20 beef burger, the Beyond Burger has:
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20g of protein, offering a complete protein source derived from a combination of peas, mung beans, and rice
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35% less saturated fat and less total fat
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No cholesterol, antibiotics or hormones
