Beyond Meat Launches Protein Powder
The week Beyond Meat put a plant protein powder on sale, USDA's Dairy Market News reported buyers struggling to secure any available product in the whey market, with whey protein concentrate 34% trading between $2.05 and $2.90 a pound and whey protein isolate holding at $14 and above.
Beyond Meat launched the Phytosphere on September 9, a nutrition portfolio sold through a new direct-to-consumer store at BeyondPlantProtein.com. It moves the company into protein powder and savory protein bars, alongside a vegetable-forward burger and the Beyond Immerse sparkling protein drink. Founder and CEO Ethan Brown said the lineup makes phytonutrition "cutting edge, delicious, and convenient."
What it costs
Beyond Starmatter has 20g of protein, 5g of fiber, and a 1,000mg phytonutrient blend per serving, priced at $59 for a 20-serving pouch or $53.10 on a monthly subscription. Four flavors are live and Golden Latte is listed as coming soon. Beyond Starcut is a jerky-style bar made with plant protein and mycelium, 17g of protein and 3g of fiber per bar, at $22.50 for six or $39 for 12. Beyond Immerse runs $45.99 for a 12-pack at 20g of protein and 110 calories a can. Beyond Veggie, a burger built on more than 10 fruits and vegetables with 500mg of plant sterols per serving, sells for $13.99. At full price, a serving of Beyond Meat protein powder costs roughly $2.95.
How it is being sold
Beyond Meat built the Phytosphere on Shopify, and the storefront runs the playbook a seed-stage brand runs in month three. There is a free-shipping progress bar, a subscribe-and-save toggle at 10% off, four curated bundles named On-the-Go, Essentials, Performance, and Elite, a build-your-own-bundle tool, and an email capture for early access. The Essentials bundle sells for $180.
The product pages borrow from the supplement aisle as well. Beyond Meat publishes its heavy-metal release limits for Starmatter against California Proposition 65 thresholds, states that every lot goes to an ISO/IEC 17025-accredited lab before release, and notes a Prop 65 warning on every bag.
Why now
Brown told investors in August that the company is repositioning around Beyond The Plant Protein Company to pursue "faster-growing adjacent categories," with Beyond Immerse as the first product through that door. The quarter behind that statement showed net revenues of $68.8 million, down 8.2% year over year, gross margin of 8.5%, and U.S. retail revenue down 9.9% to $29.6 million.
What to watch
Beyond Immerse took a route most founders would recognize. It has sold direct nationwide and reached the New York metro through beverage distributor Big Geyser, and in August it landed at Erewhon, the 14-store Southern California chain. Whether Starmatter and Starcut take the same path into stores is the thing to track. A company built on grocery shelf space and restaurant menus is now testing price, repeat rate, and flavor demand on its own site, before a category buyer ever weighs in.
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