The new Beyond Fried Chicken is from Kentucky Fried Chicken.
Beyond Meat's plant-based chicken will be added to the menu of the national fast food chain, starting Monday.
After years of testing, the national launch of a meat substitute that mimicked the taste and texture of whole muscle chicken, like chicken breast, is finally here. The plant-based chicken was sold out in less than five hours at the Atlanta restaurant. Customers in Nashville, Charlotte and southern California will be able to try the product in 2020.
A year ago, Beyond and Yum formed a partnership to make meat replacements for Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and Kentucky Fried Chicken.
Wall Street began to doubt Beyond's growth prospects. The company's market value has been dragged down by half the value of shares in the last year. According to Factset, short-sellers betting against the stock represent 37.2% of available shares.
The market value of the company has increased by 30% in the last year. The stock price has risen because of strong demand for fried chicken. Same-store sales in the U.S. increased in the third quarter.
The fried chicken chain thinks customers will want something different to fulfill their resolutions.
Kevin Hochman, the U.S. president of Kentucky Fried Chicken, said that the customer wants to eat more plant-based products. January is a time of New Year's resolutions and wanting to do something different in your diet.
Customers who are trying to eat less meat in the future will be the target of the plant-based chorizo that was rolled out Monday at the Mexican restaurant chain.
Six- or 12-piece orders of Beyond Fried Chicken can be purchased with dipping sauce. Prices start at $6.99.
Doug Ramsey and Bernie Adcock were hired by Beyond in December as chief operating officer and chief supply chain officer, respectively, in preparation for the launch of the company in the New Year. Ramsey spent three decades at Tyson. Adcock worked at Tyson for 30 years with a focus on operations and supply chain management.
The Beyond Meat team did a lot of work to get ready for the final days, and the partnership with Kentucky Fried Chicken has been years in the making. Some of the top executives in the industry were brought in to help us prepare for this.
The new product provides the opportunity to bring customers into its grocery business, which was boosted initially by pantry-loading early in the pandemic, but then saw declines in subsequent quarters.
Brown said that it has great synergies with what they are trying to do in retail.
Liza Koshy, a star on the video-sharing website, will star in the meat-free chicken ad campaign. The Beyond Fried Chicken is made using the same equipment as the traditional fried chicken, so it will not be targeted at vegetarians or vegan.
It is important that we make it easy for the team members.
A national labor crunch has hit restaurants hard over the last year. Even with fewer workers, some chains have been reluctant to add new items or change their menu. Surges in new Covid-19 cases add to those issues.
Hochman and Brown are both bullish on the product despite the launch. The flexitarian diet is where consumers cut down on their meat consumption for health and environmental reasons. Some of the popularity of plant-based meat replacements is due to that.
Brown said that they feel good about it, and that they have experience with it in initial trials.
