Beyond Meat Reports Bad Financials, Layoffs and Hiring of a Transformation Officer
Facing “ongoing softness in the plant-based meat category,” Beyond Meat on Aug. 6 reported disappointing second quarter financials, including an operating loss and the promise of a 6% workforce reduction.
As a result, the company hired John Boken from consultancy AlixPartners as interim chief transformation officer. Boken has been a partner and managing director in the turnaround and restructuring services practice at AlixPartners for more than six years and has more than 35 years of interim management, corporate turnaround and restructuring experience.
Beyond Meat sales in the quarter ending June 28 were $75.0 million, a decrease of 19.6% year-over-year. Loss from operations was $38.8 million, compared to loss from operations in the year-ago period of $33.9 million. Losses included expenses related to the suspension and substantial cessation of the company’s operational activities in China.
Gross profit was $8.6 million, or gross margin of 11.5%, compared to gross profit of $13.7 million, or gross margin of 14.7%, in the year-ago period.
As a result, Beyond Meat is laying off approximately 44 employees in North America, about 6% of the company’s total global workforce. “This decision was based on cost-reduction initiatives intended to reduce cost of goods sold and operating expenses.”
The company estimates that will involve costs of $0.8 million to $1.3 million, primarily consisting of severance payments, employee benefits and related costs. Beyond Meat expects the majority of these charges will be incurred in the third quarter of 2025,
“We are disappointed with our second quarter results, which primarily reflect ongoing softness in the plant-based meat category, particularly in the U.S. retail channel and certain international foodservice markets,” said President/CEO Ethan Brown.
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Dave Fusaro
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Dave Fusaro has served as editor in chief of Food Processing magazine since 2003. Dave has 30 years experience in food & beverage industry journalism and has won several national ASBPE writing awards for his Food Processing stories. Dave has been interviewed on CNN, quoted in national newspapers and he authored a 200-page market research report on the milk industry. Formerly an award-winning newspaper reporter who specialized in business writing, he holds a BA in journalism from Marquette University. Prior to joining Food Processing, Dave was Editor-In-Chief of Dairy Foods and was Managing Editor of Prepared Foods.