Beyond Meat's Pepsi Partnership Awakens Animal Spirits
The plant-based meat startup’s latest joint venture sparked a jolt in its stock. Some enthusiasm is warranted.
Beyond Meat’s partnership with PepsiCo may give it a leg up in marketing and distribution.
Photographer: Bloomberg
A new partnership with PepisCo Inc. is adding some fizz to Beyond Meat Inc.’s stock price.
The plant-based meat startup and the packaged-food giant announced a joint venture on Tuesday through which they will collaborate to develop and market plant-based snacks and beverages. Given that the terms of the partnership were not disclosed and the companies didn’t offer much detail, it’s difficult to say whether the jump in Beyond Meat’s shares — which was as much as 39% before settling at around 18% — is warranted. But the broad contours of the arrangement make for a smart, well-timed move by a newcomer whose competitive landscape and growth pathways were dramatically upended by the pandemic.