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Beyond Meat (BYND) Boosts Operations With New Facility in China

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Rising popularity of plant-based food options has propelled Beyond Meat, Inc. (BYND - Free Report) to expand its market footing and product offerings across the globe. In a latest development, this renowned plant-based meat-alternatives company announced the opening of its manufacturing facility in Shanghai, within the Jiaxing Economic & Technological Development Zone (JXEDZ). This new state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in China is expected to enhance the speed and efficiency with which the company produces and distributes products within the region. Let’s delve deeper.

New Facility Likely to Aid Expansion in China

Beyond Meat’s new Jiaxing manufacturing facility has been specifically designed to serve China’s expanding plant-based meat market. The facility marks the company’s first end-to-end manufacturing facility outside the United States. Moreover, the facility underscores the company’s commitment toward long-term growth in China. By expanding production scale, the company is expected to be able to efficiently serve the region’s growing retail and foodservice business as well as meet future needs of expansion and demand.  

The plant will be engaged in producing innovative range of plant-based pork, beef and poultry products. It will also produce Beyond Pork — the company’s innovation created specially to cater to the market in China. The facility will help Beyond Meat manufacture products closer to consumers, thereby leveraging local supply chains. It is also equipped with advanced R&D capabilities for creating unique product offerings and supporting Beyond Meat’s local strategic partners. Moreover, management expects that the plant will improve the company’s cost structure and sustainability of operations in the region.

Clearly, this new facility in China will help Beyond Meat solidify its footing and effectively compete in one of the largest meat markets in the world. We note that the company has been operating in China for nearly a year. It first entered the region through a partnership with Starbucks China, and has since then partnered with well-known foodservice and retail brands such as KFC, Pizza Hut, Jindingxuan, GangLi Beijing, METRO China and many more.

Efforts to Boost Offerings & Operations

Beyond Meat prides on being a leading provider of healthy plant-based meat alternatives whose products are made from simple ingredient and contain no GMOs or bioengineered components. The company’s strong brand image and high-quality products have helped it expand across the globe with ease. Apart from the new facility in China, the company will open its first owned-manufacturing facility in Europe this year. Such efforts are likely to make plant-based meat more accessible.

Moreover, Beyond Meat has been actively undertaking innovations. Last year, the company rolled out several new products such as Beyond Breakfast Sausage Links, Beyond Meatballs, Cookout Classic and Beyond Breakfast Sausage. In 2021, the company teamed up with Yum! Brands to develop exclusive plant-based products. Additionally, the company is expanding its distribution capabilities by teaming up with companies like Walmart Inc. (WMT - Free Report) , The Kroger Co. (KR - Free Report) , Whole Foods Market, Harris Teeter and Albertsons to name a few. Earlier this year, the company teamed up with PepsiCo, Inc. (PEP - Free Report) to form a new joint venture entity — The PLANeT Partnership, LLC.



However, Beyond Meat has been struggling with weak foodservices business for a while. This Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) company’s foodservice channel has been adversely impacted by sluggish food-away from home trends amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Nevertheless, the company’s retail channel has continued to remain strong, on account of sturdy product offerings and partnerships. Such well-chalked efforts to expand offerings place it well for growth in the forthcoming periods. The company’s shares have gained 11.7% in a year compared with the industry’s growth of 13.2%.

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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